Sleep disturbances in the demented elderly: treatment in ambulatory care

We report the results of a representative survey in Lower Saxony, Germany, that focused on the treatment of sleep disturbances in the moderately demented elderly. Two written sample case histories (vignettes) described either a vascular demented patient suffering from nocturnal wandering or an Alzheimer's-type demented patient without apparent psychotic or behavioral (sleep) disorder. These were randomly assigned and presented to 145 family physicians and 14 neuropsychiatrists working in private practice by a trained investigator, who then conducted a standardized interview with the physicians. The study was representative of physicians (response rate: 83.2%). In response to the question concerning how they would treat the patient's sleep disturbances, about 20% of the physicians (with respect to both versions) answered that they would not choose drugs. More than 40% considered neuroleptics to be the drugs of choice. Benzodiazepines, antidepressants and other substances were seldom considered. No significant difference was noted in the response to the two different case histories. The results allow for the conclusion that non-drug treatments, which (at least initially) should be the treatment of choice, are mainly disregarded by the majority of the ambulatory care physicians. The reason for this seems to be a lack of education in sleep medicine and also in geriatric medicine.