Sleep Quality and Disorders in Aging Populations
Summary
As individuals age, sleep undergoes profound alterations in architecture and continuity, often manifesting as reduced slow-wave sleep, fragmented sleep periods and shifts in circadian timing. Insomnia, characterised by difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep, and altered sleep duration are among the most prevalent disorders in later life. Multimorbidity, polypharmacy and psychosocial stressors further compound sleep disturbance, with bidirectional links to cognitive decline, mood disorders, cardiovascular disease and metabolic dysregulation. Age-related changes in homeostatic sleep drive and circadian pacemaker function underlie vulnerability to both insomnia and excessive daytime sleepiness. Socioeconomic factors, comorbid chronic disease and lifestyle behaviours such as physical inactivity and nutritional deficits modulate individual risk. Recognition of sleep disorders in older adults is essential, since targeted interventions—from cognitive-behavioural techniques to optimised management of comorbidities—can substantially improve quality of life, preserve cognitive function and reduce healthcare burden.
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Sleep Quality and Disorders in Aging Populations publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in sleep quality and disorders in aging populations across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Insomnia: A sleep disorder marked by difficulty initiating, maintaining or obtaining restorative sleep.
Sleep quality: A subjective measure of restfulness, continuity and efficiency of sleep over a given period.
Sleep latency: The elapsed time between intention to sleep and onset of sleep.
Sleep duration: Total amount of time spent asleep during a single sleep episode or over 24 hours.
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI): A standardised questionnaire assessing seven domains of sleep over the preceding month.
References
- Association between diverse obesity indicators and sleep quality in elderly Chinese people: a National Study. Frontiers in Nutrition (2024).
- Trends and disparities in sleep quality and duration in older adults in China from 2008 to 2018: A national observational study. Frontiers in Public Health (2023).
- Detection of Insomnia and Its Relationship with Cognitive Impairment, Depression, and Quality of Life in Older Community-Dwelling Mexicans. Diagnostics (2023).
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