Preliminary longitudinal assessment of sleep in the elderly

This is a preliminary report of a longitudinal assessment of sleep architectural changes over time and rate of progression of sleep apnea (SA) and sleep-related periodic leg movements (PLMs) in the elderly. Multiple night polysomnograms were performed in 11 community resident seniors (8 women and 3 men, aged 60-72 years) and repeated 3 years (34-38 months) later. Subjects were selected who exhibited at most mild SA or PLMs at initial testing. The respiratory disturbance index (but not the movement index) showed a significant increase over 3 years. Sleep architecture did not change significantly except for an increase in frequency of stage changes that was not solely attributable to the increase in frequency of apneas/hypopneas. Together with other published longitudinal studies, these findings suggest that elderly individuals with at most mild SA or PLMs can expect no more than a mild increase in the frequency of apneas/hypopneas or PLMs over the course of a few years.