Sleep and aging

This review describes normal and disordered sleep in the older adult population. Although several distinctive sleep changes across the lifespan are normative, including changes in the amount of time spent in different stages of sleep and a shift in the timing of circadian rhythms, sleep disorders are also common in late life. Sleep-disordered breathing, insomnia, circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders, and parasomnias occur frequently in older adults and contribute to overall higher rates of poor sleep with advanced age. Assessment and treatment of sleep disorders has been shown to improve functioning and quality of life in older adults; however, the process of diagnosis and intervention is often complicated due to the presence of multiple medical comorbidities, medication side effects, and specific age-related risk factors for sleep disruption. Additional challenges to recognizing, diagnosing, and treating sleep disorders in older adults with dementia and those in long-term care facilities also exist, further complicating the clinical management of sleep disorders in these patients.