Sleep Disturbance in Elderly Caregivers of Dementia Patients

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Although it has been widely reported in the clinical literature that sleep disturbanceis a signifcant problem among dementia caregivers, there has been little research to document this phenomenon or to clarify its correlates in a caregiving population. The current study examined interview and self-report data available on 136 caregivers between the ages of 50 and 89 (48 male, 88 female). Patient interviews and caregiver self-reports provided data on caregiver and patient sleep quality and quantity, depression, and patient cognitive, functional, and behavioral status. Sixty-eight percent of elderly caregivers reported some form of sleep disturbance three or more nights per week during the past month, including problems with sleep initiation (14%), sleep maintenance (51%), and daytime fatigue (34%). Twenty-two percent of caregivers stated that their patient awakened them regularly. Older caregivers reported greater frequency of mid-night awakenings with inability to return to sleep and more daytime naps. To...

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: