Insomnia symptoms and their correlates among the elderly in geriatric homes in Alexandria, Egypt

Abstract

The prevalence of sleep complaints increases steadily with age. Studies investigating insomnia among elderly people living in geriatric homes, especially among Egyptians, are scarce. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of insomnia symptoms among the elderly living in geriatric homes in Alexandria and their correlates. A cross-sectional survey of a representative sample of elderly population of geriatric homes in Alexandria was implemented. A total of 177 persons aged 60 years or older participated. Difficulty initiating sleep was reported by 65% of the participants. Approximately half of them had difficulty maintaining their sleep (50.8%) or had non-restful sleep (51.4%). Short sleep was reported by 43.5% of the participants, while early morning awakening was reported by 28.2%. Advanced age (> or = 75 years) was significantly associated with increased risk for early morning awakening, non-restful sleep and short sleep. Women had approximately a fourfold risk of non-restful sleep as opposed to men. Short stay in geriatric homes (<1 year) was associated with 2.5-fold increased risk of non-restful sleep. Unmarried status was strongly and positively related to difficulty to maintain sleep and non-restful sleep. Depressive status was significantly associated with an increased risk of difficulty to maintain sleep and decreased risk of early morning awakening. Conclusively, the present study showed that insomnia symptoms are highly prevalent among the elderly living in geriatric homes. It also revealed that although age, gender, and other socio-demographic factors are correlated with insomnia symptoms, other factors are highly important. Health care providers should take these factors in consideration when dealing with elderly patients who complain of insomnia.

Prevalence of insomnia and its associated factors among rural elderly: a community based study

“…This proposes that insomnia should be deliberated for an important public health issue for elderly people. This result is in agreement with previous findings (Reid, 2006;Makhlouf, 2007;Enomoto, et al, 2010, Sabry, 2010, Jaussent, 2011. However, other studies in urban localities in Egypt reported a much lower rate of insomnia down to 33.4% (Bakr, 2012;Saber, 2013 andShokry, 2014).…”

“…These findings come in agreement with some studies (Su, 2004;Tsou, 2013;Shokry, 2014). In contrast other studies reported significant association between increasing the age and sleeping quality and insomnia (Makhlouf, 2007;Wong, 2011;El Kady, 2012). However, Adetola et al (2014) found no association between age and insomnia.…”

“…Previous studies reported prevalence rates of sleep disorders to be ranged from 42% to 80% among elderly (Sukying, 2003;Shives, 2004;Tablosky, 2006;Rongve, 2010;Hosseini et al, 2011;Chen, 2012;Tsou, 2013). In Egypt, a study done among elderly living in a community in Alexandria City; reported that the prevalence of insomnia was 33.4 % (Makhlouf, 2007). Several changes that occur with the aging increase the risk for sleep problems, including comorbidity, greater medications use, age-related changes in various circadian rhythms, and environmental and lifestyle changes (Roepke, 2010).…”

Qualidade do sono de idosos residentes em instituição de longa permanência

“…The largest number of complaints about sleep has traditionally been observed among women (14,17) . A study with 177 institutionalized aged individuals found a risk about four times greater than non-restorative sleep complaints for women than for men (18) . A more thorough assessment of possible differences between men and women of this study, considering variables such as age, length of institutionalization and others did not find any characteristic that would explain this finding.…”

“…Aged people are particularly susceptible to the disruption of life routines, leading to consequences usually deleterious on their biological rhythms, especially the sleep/ wake cycle. A study with institutionalized elderly showed that living for less than a year at the institution represented a risk two and a half times higher to complain of non-restorative sleep (18) . The present study did not include elderly individuals with less than one year in the institution, but the fact is that there are no studies that accompany the duration of the impact of institutionalization on sleep, thus permitting to speculate that it could extend beyond the first year, as suggested by these findings.…”