Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-12T21:13:31.849Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Treatment of Insomnia in Multimorbid Elderly

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2022

G. Stoppe*
Affiliation:
University of Basel, And Mentage, Basel, Switzerland

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The treatment of sleep disorders in older people requires knowledge of the changes in sleep in old age. In the case of multimorbid older people, pharmacological aspects such as interactions must also be taken into account. Sleep in old age is characterised by a lower depth of sleep and more frequent awakenings. The duration of sleep corresponds to that in middle adulthood. In multimorbid older people, sleep is often chronically impaired by pain and/or obstructive breathing disorders. Many medications can have a negative effect on sleep. This applies to cortisone, for example. Antipsychotics can also worsen sleep by worsening nocturnal myoclonia. Ideally, sleep disorders should first be addressed non-pharmacologically. For benzodiazepines, preparations with a short half-life should be chosen. An algorithm is presented. References:

Gulia KK, Kumar VM. Sleep disorders in the elderly: a growing challenge. Psychogeriatrics 2018;18(3):155-165. Samara MT, Huhn M, Chiocchia V, Schneider-Thoma J, Wiegand M, Salanti G, Leucht S. Efficacy, acceptability, and tolerability of all available treatments for insomnia in the elderly: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. ActaPsychiatr Scand. 2020;142(1):6-17.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Type
Pharmacology
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.