Just the other day I wrote about our continued reliance on sleeping pills (and how we're over-prescribing them to seniors).
Today I came across an article that revealed some shocking statistics when it comes to the sleep health of our seniors.
According to findings in a recent Successful Aging Evaluation, more than 92% of the 1,300 individuals involved reported some form of sleep disturbance.
The average age of those who took part in this study was 77.3 years.
10% of those who had difficulty with sleep used alcohol as a treatment option, and nearly 15% used prescription medication.
There was a glimmer of hope in the findings, though - 39% were using behavioral techniques (the most effective insomnia treatment option) to improve their sleep.
Although it's good to see a relatively large proportion of seniors trying cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, the prevalence of sleep disturbances still comes as a shock - as does the fact that 10% of those who have difficulty sleeping use alcohol as a sleep aid.
Source: Clinical Psychiatry News
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Last updated: June 5, 2013
