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Behavioral Therapy Gets Sleepless Seniors Snoozing
More than 70 percent benefited from just two sessions,
researchers say
(HealthDay News) -- Brief behavioral treatment for insomnia may
help bleary-eyed seniors get some much-needed sleep, a new study
finds.
The study, by a team from the University of Pittsburgh School of
Medicine, included 17 older adults randomly assigned to receive
short-term behavioral therapy and 18 others who were only given
information on insomnia. Patients in both groups kept a sleep
diary and completed doctor-administered and self-reported
measures of sleep quality.
The interventions were delivered in one session, followed by a
"booster" session two weeks later. The patients were reassessed
four weeks after the initial intervention session.
As reported in the latest issue of the Journal of Clinical
Sleep Medicine, 71 percent of patients in the therapy group
showed significant improvements in sleep measures and in daytime
symptoms of anxiety and depression, compared to 39 percent of
those in the information-only group.
The study also found that 53 percent of those in the therapy
group met the criteria for insomnia remission, compared to 17
percent of the people in the information group.
"These preliminary findings are consistent with previous studies
that have shown that brief behavioral insomnia interventions can
be efficacious, and remain efficacious in older adults," the
study authors wrote.
Insomnia affects nearly half of adults aged 60 and older. Sleep
problems in older adults can lead to depressed mood, attention
and memory deficits, excessive daytime sleepiness, greater risk
of nighttime falls, and increased used of over-the-counter and
prescription sleep drugs.
More information
The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about
insomnia.
-- Robert Preidt
SOURCE: American Academy of Sleep Medicine, news release, Oct.
1, 2006