Sleep in the geriatric patient population

Older patients often suffer from sleep disturbances caused by age-related physiological changes, polypharmacy, changes in circadian rhythm, retirement, and loss of spouse. Many seniors have readily diagnosed sleep disorders that can be treated to achieve improvement in daytime somnolence or cognitive impairments. After a discussion of normal age-related changes in sleep, specific sleep pathologies common in the elderly will be reviewed, including sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, advanced sleep phase syndrome, and rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder.