Sleep in care homes

Sleep problems in older adults are common and disturbance in sleep is associated with increased mortality. These problems are more pronounced in the care home population because of institutional factors and a high prevalence of frailty and comorbidity. This article reviews the randomized controlle...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gordon, Adam, Gladman, John R.F.
Format: Article
Published: Cambridge University Press 2010
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1330/
_version_ 1848790587049771008
author Gordon, Adam
Gladman, John R.F.
author_facet Gordon, Adam
Gladman, John R.F.
author_sort Gordon, Adam
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Sleep problems in older adults are common and disturbance in sleep is associated with increased mortality. These problems are more pronounced in the care home population because of institutional factors and a high prevalence of frailty and comorbidity. This article reviews the randomized controlled trials undertaken to address sleep problems in care homes. These suggest that standalone therapies – oral melatonin and light therapy – have no effect on sleep but that combination treatments – physical exercise plus sleep hygiene, physical exercise plus sleep hygiene plus light and melatonin plus light – may have positive effects. These effects are more marked for daytime arousal than nocturnal sleep. Practical considerations for care homes are how to maximise light exposure, incorporate exercise into daily routines and minimize night-time disruption for residents. Trials undertaken so far are compromised by small sample size and inappropriate randomization strategies and further research is therefore required.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T18:14:59Z
format Article
id nottingham-1330
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T18:14:59Z
publishDate 2010
publisher Cambridge University Press
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-13302020-05-04T20:25:30Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1330/ Sleep in care homes Gordon, Adam Gladman, John R.F. Sleep problems in older adults are common and disturbance in sleep is associated with increased mortality. These problems are more pronounced in the care home population because of institutional factors and a high prevalence of frailty and comorbidity. This article reviews the randomized controlled trials undertaken to address sleep problems in care homes. These suggest that standalone therapies – oral melatonin and light therapy – have no effect on sleep but that combination treatments – physical exercise plus sleep hygiene, physical exercise plus sleep hygiene plus light and melatonin plus light – may have positive effects. These effects are more marked for daytime arousal than nocturnal sleep. Practical considerations for care homes are how to maximise light exposure, incorporate exercise into daily routines and minimize night-time disruption for residents. Trials undertaken so far are compromised by small sample size and inappropriate randomization strategies and further research is therefore required. Cambridge University Press 2010 Article NonPeerReviewed Gordon, Adam and Gladman, John R.F. (2010) Sleep in care homes. Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, 20 (4). ISSN 0959-2598 (In Press) http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=RCG
spellingShingle Gordon, Adam
Gladman, John R.F.
Sleep in care homes
title Sleep in care homes
title_full Sleep in care homes
title_fullStr Sleep in care homes
title_full_unstemmed Sleep in care homes
title_short Sleep in care homes
title_sort sleep in care homes
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1330/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1330/