Prevalence of sleep disorders, daytime sleepiness and clinical symptomatology in older adults

Introduction With ageing, changes occur that affect the quality and quantity of sleep. These changes could cause sleep disorders in older adults, causing severe consequences for health and quality of life. However, in Mexico there are no studies addressing the prevalence of sleep disorders in older adults. Objective To determine the prevalence of sleep disorders, daytime sleepiness and clinical symptomatology in older adults seen at the UNAM Sleep Disorder Clinic in the General Hospital of México. Materials and methods A retrospective analysis of 191 medical records and 148 polysomnographic records from adults over 65 years old who were seen at the UNAM School of Medicine Sleep Disorder Clinic from 2009 to 2013 was performed. Results 82.2% of patients were diagnosed with Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Syndrome (OSAS). The associated factors found were night-time awakenings (89%), medical comorbidities (84.5%), difficulty waking (70.7%), being overweight or obese (69.1%), among others. Of the total sleep time, they spent 14.2% in N1, 53.8% in N2, 16.1% in N3 and 15.4% in REM. Moreover, a REM sleep latency of 160 min was found. Discussion Caring for the elderly is a challenge for healthcare systems. The study of sleep disorders is important because of its effects on health and quality of life, so understanding the clinical characteristics of this population will improve the diagnosis, management and referral of these patients.

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