What Steals Sleep Later in Life?

Nov. 3, 2005 -- The problems that hound older adults during the day often chase them into the night, stealing sleep, a new Gallup survey shows.

Worry and health problems hamper the sleep of many older adults, according to the telephone survey of about 1,000 Americans aged 50 and older.

However, not everyone is tossing and turning, despite their troubles, the survey shows.

Gallup did the survey for the International Longevity Center, an independent affiliate of New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Rested or Not?

Most participants recognized how important sleep is to health, and two-thirds said they had gotten roughly the right amount of sleep in the previous month.

Thirty percent said they had gotten too little sleep in the previous month. Hardly anyone (3%) reported getting too much sleep.

Other findings include:

• One in five participants reported getting less than six hours of nightly sleep.
• 45% said they felt they needed more sleep than they had in their 20s.
• A quarter said they believe they had a sleep problem.

Many had consulted their doctors and tried different treatments to fix their sleep concerns.

Worry, Health Problems Take Their Toll

Nearly one in four said worry had hindered their ability to fall asleep in the month before the survey. One in four said worry had made it hard for them to stay asleep.

Worry-related sleep problems were more common among people who were the main caregivers for a chronically ill friend or relative.

Being overweight or having health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and cancer were sometimes sleep burdens.

People with those conditions were less likely to report getting seven hours of nightly sleep. But fewer than one in five of them said their health condition interfered with their sleep.

Sleep wasn't always interrupted by a grave health issue. A little less than half of all participants (43%) said they had often gotten up at night to go to the bathroom in the past month.

Seeking Help

Most people who said they thought they had a sleep problem reported talking to their doctor about it (72%). Nearly half of them said they were being treated for a sleep disorder, mainly with prescription medicines.

Other treatments they reported included cognitive behavioral therapy and over-the-counter medication.

One-Third Tried Sleep Aids

People who thought they had sleep problems weren't the only ones seeking help.

A third of all participants reported using at least one of seven sleep aids -- at least occasionally -- in the previous month:

• Audiotapes: 12%
• Over-the-counter sleep medicine: 11%
• Antihistamines or cold medicines: 8%
• Herbal remedies: 6%
• Prescriptions not for sleep: 6%
• Alcohol: 5%

Women were more likely to report using antihistamines or cold medicines for sleep; men were more likely to report using alcohol.

Men and women were equally likely to have used sleep-related audiotapes.

Sleep a Health Priority

The vast majority of participants -- 80% -- said sleep has a great deal of importance to a person's health.

But sleep didn't rank as high when participants reviewed a list of healthy habits. Their ratings:

• Good nutrition: 76%
• Staying mentally sharp: 73%
• Regular exercise: 63%
• Good quality sleep: 57%
• Interpersonal relationships: 52%