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Multi-Modal Home Sleep Monitoring in Older Adults
Published on: January 26, 2019
Characterizing sleep problems in persons with Alzheimer's disease and normal elderly
Rochelle E Tractenberg1, Clifford M Singer, Jeffrey A Kaye
1Departments of Biostatistics, Biomathematics & Bioinformatics and Psychiatry, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA. ret7@georgetown.edu
Journal of Sleep Research
|February 24, 2006
Summary
This study found that specific sleep disturbance symptoms clearly distinguish individuals with sleep problems from those without, within both Alzheimer's disease (AD) and non-demented elderly (NDE) groups. Differences between AD and NDE groups were less pronounced than within-group differences.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Neurology
- Sleep Medicine
Background:
- Sleep disturbances are common in aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD).
- Understanding specific sleep symptoms is crucial for differentiating sleep problems in elderly populations.
- Subjective perception of sleep issues can vary significantly.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify specific sleep disturbance symptoms underlying the perception of 'sleep problems' in healthy elderly and AD patients.
- To determine consistency of these symptoms within and across cohorts.
- To compare sleep symptom profiles between individuals with and without reported sleep problems.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of intake interviews from 399 healthy, non-demented elderly (NDE) and 263 persons with possible or probable Alzheimer's disease (AD).
- Stratification of cohorts based on reported 'sleep problem' status (yes/no).
- Comparison of frequency and endorsement rates of 21 sleep disturbance symptoms.
Main Results:
- Endorsement rates for some symptoms differed significantly based on reported sleep problems within each cohort.
- Ten symptoms showed frequency differences between those with and without sleep problems in both cohorts; six were consistent.
- Differences in specific sleep symptoms between AD and NDE cohorts were less pronounced than within-cohort differences, with daytime sleeping noted in AD.
Conclusions:
- Specific sleep disturbance symptoms clearly differentiate individuals with and without subjective sleep problems within both NDE and AD cohorts.
- The primary drivers of differences between AD and NDE cohorts appear to be reporting source and daytime sleeping prevalence in AD.
- Subjective sleep problems are distinguishable within elderly groups regardless of cognitive status.
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