Treatment of Late-life Insomnia.

Insomnia, defined as difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep at least 3 nights per week that is accompanied by complaints of sleep-related daytime impairment, is the most common sleep disturbance in later life. Although insomnia can occur as an acute disorder (7 days or less), older adults are often afflicted with chronic insomnia (12 months or more). Additionally, insomnia in older individuals is most frequently comorbid in nature, occurring in the context of age-related medical or psychiatric conditions, increased medication usage, or polypharmacy. This article focuses on the conceptualization, assessment, and treatment of late-life insomnia from a behavioral sleep medicine perspective. Evidence for both behavioral and pharmacologic treatment approaches is presented. As is shown, however, late-insomnia’s chronic and comorbid nature makes behavioral techniques the preferable treatment approach.