The National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference on the Treatment of Sleep Disorders of Older People brought together clinical specialists in pulmonology, psychiatry, and psychology, geriatrics, internal medicine, other health care providers, and the public to address the cause, diagnosis, assessment, and specific treatments of sleep disorders of older people. Following 1 1/2 days of presentations by experts and discussion by the audience, a consensus panel weighed the scientific evidence and prepared a consensus statement.

Among their findings, the panel concluded that although sleep patterns change during the aging process most older people with sleep disturbances suffer from any of a variety of medical and psychosocial disorders. The panel recommended that the diagnostic evaluation of sleep disorders begin with a careful clinical evaluation performed by an informed primary care physician. When necessary, referrals should be made to individuals or centers with specialized skills and tools for therapy. The panel recognized two types of disorders for which treatment may be beneficial: obstructive sleep apnea and insomnia. The mainstay for treatment for sleep apnea is the use of nasal continuous positive airway pressure. A thorough medical evaluation is essential prior to initiating treatment for insomnia, as its causes may be of psychiatric, pharmacological, or medical origin. The panel recommended that hypnotic medications not be the mainstay of treatment for insomnia as they may have habit forming potential if overused.

The full text of the consensus panel's statement follows.

Introduction

The increase in the number of people over 65 and the rise in the proportion of older people represent a marked change in the demographic patterns in this country that will have profound social, economic, medical, and personal consequences. Individuals over 65 constituted 4 percent of the American population in 1900 and nearly 10 percent in 1972. By the year 2000, it is estimated that they will comprise over 13 percent of the population and by 2050 will represent more than 21 percent of Americans.

A large proportion of older people are at risk for disturbances of sleep that may be caused by many factors such as retirement and changes in social patterns, death of spouse and close friends, increased use of medications, concurrent diseases and changes in circadian rhythms. While changes in sleep patterns have been viewed as part of the normal aging process, new information indicates that many of these disturbances may be related to pathological processes that are associated with aging.

Although the exact numbers are not yet known, it has been estimated that disturbances of sleep afflict more than half of the people 65 and older who live at home and about two-thirds of those who live in long-term care facilities. Problems in sleep and daytime wakefulness disrupt not only the lives of older persons but also those of their families and caregivers. People over 65 years of age now constitute almost 13 percent of the American population but consume over 30 percent of all dispensed prescription drugs, as well as an unknown percentage of over-the-counter medicines. A large proportion of these drugs are sedatives and hypnotic agents, the safety and efficacy of which have not been established for older people. Nor has it been established to what extent drugs contribute to or alleviate problems of sleep. It is necessary to understand the causes of these disorders and to develop better treatment strategies, including non-pharmacological methods.

In addition to affecting the quality of life, troubled sleep has been implicated with excess mortality. Controversy also exists concerning the causes, diagnosis, assessment, and specific treatments of sleep disorders in older people.

In an effort to assess the current state of knowledge and determine what changes in sleep are clinically important, how sleep disorders are best diagnosed and treated, and how the public can establish good sleep practices, the National Institute on Aging, the Office of Medical Applications of Research, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Mental Health, convened this conference. Following 1-1/2 days of presentations by experts in the relevant fields, a consensus panel consisting of representatives from neurology, psychiatry, internal medicine, geriatric medicine, pulmonology, otolaryngology--head and neck surgery, epidemiology, biostatistics, pharmacology, and the public considered evidence and formulated a consensus statement responding to these key questions:

• What are the changes in sleep and wakefulness as functions of aging and of diseases of older people? What are the diagnostic criteria that establish clinical abnormalities? Which are clinically and epidemiologically important?
• What are the indications for a diagnostic evaluation? What sequence of assessment methods should be used to determine if the diagnostic criteria are met?
• What are the indications for the treatment of sleep disorders?
• What are the common medical practices and lay treatment practices and their health implications?
• What should the medical profession and general public know about good sleep hygiene and treatment of sleep disorders, and what should be done to increase awareness?
• What are the directions for future research?

What Are the Changes in Sleep and Wakefulness as Functions of Aging and of Diseases of Older People? What Are the Diagnostic Criteria That Establish Clinical Abnormalities? Which Are Clinically and Epidemiologically Important?

Sleep is a distinctive and essential component of human behavior. Nearly a third of the life of a normal adult is spent sleeping. Sleep is divided into rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM sleep. REM sleep is characterized by a low amplitude pattern in the EEG, an associated loss of muscle tone, and the presence of rapid eye movements. Non-REM sleep is characterized by sleep spindles and slow wave activity in the EEG. Sleep is differentially distributed into the dark portion of the daily cycle of light and dark. This regulation of sleep reflects basic brain mechanisms that provide the circadian organization of both behavioral and physiological processes.

During aging there are typical changes in the pattern of sleep. The amount of time spent in deeper levels of sleep diminishes. There is an associated increase in awakenings during sleep and in the total amount of time spent awake during the night. In part, these changes appear to represent a loss of effective circadian regulation of sleep.

In carefully screened, medically healthy, older subjects, there are relatively few individuals who have symptoms related to these changes in sleep and in the distribution of sleep and waking behaviors. Many older individuals, however, suffer from a variety of medical and psychosocial problems and these are very often associated with disturbances of sleep. These include psychiatric illnesses, particularly depression; Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases; cardiovascular disease; upper airway incompetence; pulmonary disease; arthritis; pain syndromes; prostatic disease; endocrinopathies; and other illnesses.

The diagnostic categories that establish clinical abnormalities of sleep arise from two sets of data. The first is derived from evaluation of the patient's history, which is classified into syndromes as have been described in the International Classification of Sleep Disorders. None of the disorders are specific for older people, but nearly all occur in this population. The second set comes from electrophysiological studies. Both provide valuable information, but each has its own limitations.

There is little agreement among workers in the field about what is clinically normal and what is clinically abnormal, except in extreme cases (for example, high values of indices of sleep disordered breathing). Also, measurements are not obtained in a standardized way. Much needs to be learned, and an important first step is to decide upon a standardized approach to data collection. The new classification scheme is an important first step in the standardization process.

In the assessment of the behavioral aspects of sleep, standardization is needed before epidemiological subpopulations can be defined and surveyed. The validity (including face validity) and reliability of standardized instruments and settings must be determined before sensitivity, specificity, and prevalence are assessed. Additional considerations are cost and ease of measurement. With standardized, agreed-upon instruments intra- and intersubject variability can be measured and linked with other clinical observations.

Standardized approaches to data collection for both the clinician and the researcher are particularly important in the measurement of variations over time. In many situations clinical action is based on an inference that the patient's condition has changed. If this judgment is guided by a psychometric instrument, then the reliability of the estimated change, in the presence of intrasubject variability, must be established.

The rapid and thorough evaluation of new and existing technology will aid in the development of standardized approaches to data collection. The evaluation begins with the specification of the clinical need. Comparisons with competing technology must be made as objectively as possible, and the ideal research design for accomplishing this is the randomized double-blind clinical trial.

It is difficult to answer questions about changes in sleep and wakefulness as functions of aging or of disease in older people because basic epidemiologic descriptive studies have not yet been carried out. Studies of the distribution of sleeping patterns and "disorders" need to be conducted in the "community" utilizing a representative sampling scheme so that the relationship of sleep patterns to possibly pertinent cultural, demographic, and other variables can be explored.

There is a need for epidemiological studies of sleep disorders: international and cross-cultural comparisons and case-control studies may confirm and generate etiological hypotheses. The natural history of certain sleep disorders is not well described: Do they spontaneously remit? What is the relationship to cardiovascular disease and life expectancy? Cohort studies may help advance our understanding of the natural history of these disorders.

Similarly, it is difficult to determine which diagnostic criteria are important in establishing clinical abnormalities. The field of sleep disorder research has largely approached this problem by attempting to separate "normal" from "abnormal" or "diseased." However, population distributions of the phenomena employed as diagnostic criteria (e.g., periodic movements in sleep or apneic episodes) are not well described. Current threshold values are usually not validated; and test characteristics (sensitivity, specificity, predictive values) are largely unavailable. Furthermore, inter- and intraobserver variation in test interpretation has been rarely studied.

While the severe forms of clinical entities, such as sleep apnea, are generally accepted and criteria agreed upon, mild and moderate forms are not well distinguished. Study of the distribution of these phenomena in populations, linking them to clinical outcomes, is lacking. For example, persons with a mild degree of periodic movements in sleep or apnea may be asymptomatic and not suffer any appreciable morbidity. It will be difficult to establish diagnostic criteria if the frequency of these events is not linked to natural history studies and eventual health outcomes and functional impairment.

What Are the Indications for a Diagnostic Evaluation? What Sequence of Assessment Methods Should Be Used To Determine if the Diagnostic Criteria Are Met?

Diagnostic evaluation begins with the recognition of a potential disorder by patient history or physician suspicion. Screening questions should include: 1) patient satisfaction with his or her sleep; 2) intrusion of sleep or fatigue into daily activities; and 3) complaint by bed partner or other observers of unusual behavior during sleep. A positive response to these questions should trigger a more detailed history of the onset, severity, duration, and pattern of the complaint, and lead to a differential diagnosis.

Three major types of sleep complaints are excessive sleepiness (hypersomnia), difficulty in initiating or maintaining sleep (insomnia), and strange or unusual behavior during sleep (parasomnias).

A careful medical history is needed to determine the presence and severity of concomitant disease. The history of snoring, breathing pauses, or periodic movements during sleep is sometimes better described by the bed partner or other observers. Prescribed medications, especially sedatives, alcohol use, and self medication can have a significant effect on sleep and may impair cardiopulmonary mechanisms during sleep. Psychiatric history and evaluation identify anxiety, depression, or major life events which are known to affect sleep habits or hygiene. In some cases the use of a patient sleep log to evaluate sleep/wakefulness patterns will serve to identify rhythmic or circadian disturbances or to document the magnitude of sleep intrusion into daily activities. Appropriate physical examination will depend upon the nature of the complaint and history elicited from the patient. For example, heavy snoring may necessitate a detailed examination of the nose and throat. Appropriate laboratory tests may be similarly indicated.

Given additional training and education, primary care physicians should be capable of initial assessment and management of the majority of sleep disorders presenting in the older population. When necessary, referrals should be made to individuals or a center with recognized skills in the indications for and application of more specialized tools, such as polysomnography or multiple sleep latency tests for diagnosis and recommendations for therapy.

Polysomnography is indicated when a sleep related breathing disorder is suspected and may be useful for certain behavior or movement disorders during sleep. Polysomnography followed by a multiple sleep latency test is useful for establishing the diagnosis of narcolepsy and for quantitating daytime sleepiness. At present, there are insufficient data to assess the value of polysomnography in the routine evaluation of insomnia, depression, or dementia.

Limited monitoring on an ambulatory basis may be useful to assess efficacy of therapy for sleep apnea. Technologic advances, standardization of variables, and cost-effectiveness need to be addressed before incorporating ambulatory monitors into epidemiologic studies or the clinical practice of sleep disorders medicine.

What Are the Indications for the Treatment of Sleep Disorders?

The goals of therapy of sleep disorders can be classified as:

• Reducing morbidity;
• Reducing excess mortality; and
• Improving quality of life for patient and family.

Sleep disorders have been classified extensively. The major focus of this conference could, however, be summarized as dealing with two primary types of complaints or disorders, for which there is evidence to suggest that treatment is beneficial. These consist of:

• The hypersomnias, primarily represented by obstructive sleep apnea; and
• The insomnia complaints, which can be due to a variety of psychiatric and medical disorders.

What Are the Common Medical Practices and Lay Treatment Practices and Their Health Implications?

What Should the Medical Profession and General Public Know About Good Sleep Hygiene and Treatment of Sleep Disorders, and What Should Be Done To Increase awareness?

The answer to this question involves defining the target audience, determining what information should be conveyed, and deciding how best to transmit the information.

Physicians and medical students, nurses, social workers and counselors, rehabilitation and respiratory therapists, discharge planners, and pharmacists and other allied health professionals are the groups to be approached first. We anticipate particular interest from providers of services to the older people including area agencies on aging, senior centers, and nursing homes.

Other special groups that are affected by sleep disorder issues include employers, pharmaceutical companies, members of the legal profession, and developers of technology. Funders of research, both public and private, must be involved in this developing field. Education also must be directed toward decision makers at local, state and national levels, including regulatory and legislative groups. There are also key decision makers in the private sector such as those in the insurance industry and health care systems.

Educational efforts must include the very groups we wish to help: the older persons, their families, and caregivers.

The information to be conveyed will differ in content, style, and depth depending on the audience--professionals, patients, and media. A particular educational emphasis is desirable for new physicians and researchers, even while it is recognized that there are many unanswered questions. Nevertheless there are general concepts that could be useful for all groups. The content should include concepts of sleep physiology and pathophysiology, and assessment and differential diagnosis.

Discussion of treatment approaches including technological devices, drugs, and lifestyle should address disadvantages as well as advantages. For audiences unfamiliar with the issue of sleep and the older person, the magnitude of the personal and societal toll in accidents, health, and unhappiness must be conveyed. Other key points include proper use of medications, preventive health measures, and good sleep hygiene practices. Individuals may satisfactorily cope with insomnia, and it may be transient. On the other hand, persistent insomnia may reflect major disease, and competent clinical consultation may be desirable.

Imagination and sustained effort are at the heart of the many educational efforts. For health professionals one goal is to include information on sleep in the curriculum of schools--not an easy task. More standard educational efforts include appropriate lay and professional publications, professional conferences, and continuing education. Lay or advocacy groups can contribute to the total educational effort, as well as benefit from it. Reaching the public can be facilitated by utilizing existing networks, for example, state and area agencies on aging, coordinated through the Administration on Aging. There are opportunities for communicating information in newsletters published by churches, hospitals, and senior centers. There is particular need to involve citizen groups who direct their efforts toward the older person. All media groups should be encouraged to discuss these issues.

The Public Health Service must take a more active role in educating and disseminating information to the public. Without such effort, this consensus report may not receive the wide dissemination it deserves.

What Are the Directions for Future Research?

The conference presentations emphasized the problem of sleep disorders in older age due to the demographic shift in the American population to an increasing proportion in the over-65 age group, and to the public awareness of the interest of the medical community in diagnosis and treatment of these disorders.

The study of sleep and sleep disorders has advanced rapidly in the past 30 years. This advance has been most prominent in studies of normal sleep throughout the life span. However, the classification, diagnostic criteria, understanding of the basic mechanisms, natural history, and the efficacy of treatment in sleep disorders are still in early stages so that further research in all these areas is necessary. This is particularly true for the older population in whom these conditions may be more frequent and disruptive.

It is always difficult to define classification and diagnostic criteria in a relatively new area where clinical descriptions and observations predominate and where the interpretation of objective measures, even with existing and new technology, is hampered. Certainly, large studies of control populations with proper sampling methods are necessary. This is particularly the situation in older populations where controls without confounding disease are more difficult to obtain.

It is often necessary in alleviating illness to press forward with clinical descriptions and treatment even without knowledge of the basic mechanisms. However, it is only with elucidation of these mechanisms that rational approaches to therapy can be effected. The study of these disorders in older patients, who often have other diseases, affords some unusual opportunities. For example, how does the dopamine depletion in Parkinson's disease patients affect sleep architecture and cardiopulmonary adaptation? Also, older patients may take one or more drugs for other conditions, and this may afford an opportunity for clinical observations.

There have been extensive studies of sleep mechanisms in experimental animals. Efforts should be made to identify appropriate animal models for sleep disorders. Now it is possible to study old animals, including primates, and these studies should provide insight into the basic mechanisms of sleep changes in aging. The new interest in disordered circadian rhythms as a clinical observation opens up new areas of research.

Modern research techniques used in selected human cases might help identify biological markers for some of these disorders. Opportunities for clinical and pathological correlation should be encouraged. The application or development of new research techniques should provide added understanding of the neurobiology of sleep and its disorders.

The natural history of many sleep disorders has not been well described. Longitudinal studies into older age would clarify the progress of these disorders and their effect on morbidity and mortality. This is also necessary if one is to judge the efficacy of various treatment modalities. Important questions that can only be answered by long-term studies are whether some of the variations noted in the older population are the result of aging or of concomitant disease; whether these variations need to be tested further; and whether these variations are responsible for other medical conditions. This latter point needs clarification because of the questions regarding sleep apnea with oxygen desaturation and various forms of dementia.

An important area of study is the disruption of normal circadian rhythms by transmeridian time shifts, dislocation such as moving to a nursing home, and shift work. These may result in sleep disturbances with attendant problems with family, driving, and recreation.

It is obvious from the data presented that extensive studies need to be done to settle the question of benefits of treatment in these disorders. Carefully controlled studies of well defined clinical groups will be necessary to establish the benefit of various therapies. It is equally important in clinical trials to look at the efficacy of different means of sleep hygiene practices, not only for therapy but for prevention.

Added knowledge about the effectiveness of treatment should spur studies of cost effectiveness of diagnostic methods and therapies.

In all the areas mentioned there are many opportunities for basic and clinical research. The enhanced interest in the older population should provide both challenges and opportunities for investigators.

Conclusions and Recommendations

There is a need for epidemiologic investigations of sleep disorders: case control, cohort, and cross-cultural studies should be initiated. The information developed in these studies will aid in the understanding of the natural history, etiology, and prevention of sleep disorders.

• Evaluation of sleep disorders begins with careful clinical evaluation performed by an informed primary care physician.
• Standardization of clinical measures and assessment of the specificity and sensitivity of diagnostic procedures is essential.
• Advanced skills and diagnostic tools are available and should be applied in appropriate patients.
• The objective of sleep disorder therapy is to reduce morbidity and mortality and improve the quality of life.
• Obstructive sleep apnea is a potentially severe and treatable cause of daytime hypersomnia.
• Restoration of airway competence is the objective in the treatment of severe sleep apnea.
• Insomnia is a complaint with multiple causes and requires different treatments.
• Hypnotic medications should not be the mainstay of treatment of insomnia, are overused and have habit forming potential.
• The value of good sleep hygiene should not be underestimated in the prevention and treatment of insomnia.
• Widespread knowledge about sleep and its disorders is lacking, and education at all levels is needed.
• The Public Health Service must take an active role in educating the public.
• Powerful new techniques, such as brain imaging, molecular biological tools, and neurochemical analyses, should be used in human studies and animal models to explore the basic mechanisms of sleep and sleep disorders.
• Sleep disorders in older people offer unique opportunities to study integrative neurologic, psychiatric, and cardiopulmonary functions.
• Current and new therapies and technologies must be evaluated by randomized controlled clinical trials.
• The Health Care Financing Administration should review current reimbursement policies, and continue to explore clinical data set requirements as these reimbursement policies for sleep disorders evolve.

Consensus Development Panel

• Robert J. Joynt, M.D., Ph.D.
• Panel and Conference Chairman
• Vice President and Vice Provost of Health Affairs
• University of Rochester
• Rochester, New York

• Morton C. Creditor, M.D.
• Professor of Medicine and Director
• Center on Aging
• University of Kansas Medical Center
• Kansas City, Kansas

• Norman H. Edelman, M.D.
• Professor of Medicine and Dean
• University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
• Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
• Piscataway, New Jersey

• David N.F. Fairbanks, M.D.
• Clinical Professor of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery
• George Washington University School of Medicine
• Washington, D.C.

• Israel Hanin, Ph.D.
• Professor and Chairman
• Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
• Director
• Neuroscience and Aging Institute
• Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
• Maywood, Illinois

• Linda Krogh Harootyan, B.A., M.S.W.
• Director of Information
• The Gerontological Society of America
• Washington, D.C.

• Robert Y. Moore, M.D., Ph.D.
• Professor and Chairman
• Department of Neurology
• State University of New York at Stony Brook
• Health Sciences Center
• Stony Brook, New York

• Woodrow Myers, M.D., M.B.A.
• Commissioner of Health
• City of New York
• New York, New York

• George W. Paulson, M.D.
• Professor and Chairman
• Department of Neurology
• The Ohio State University
• Columbus, Ohio

• Martin Reite, M.D.
• Director
• University Sleep Disorders Center
• Professor
• Department of Psychiatry
• University of Colorado School of Medicine
• Denver, Colorado

• Paul D. Stolley, M.D., M.P.H.
• Herbert C. Rorer Professor of Medical Sciences and Co-director
• Clinical Epidemiology Unit
• University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Kingman P. Strohl, M.D., M.P.H.
• Chief
• Pulmonology Division of Critical Care
• Department of Medicine
• University Hospitals of Cleveland
• Cleveland, Ohio

• Gerald van Belle, Ph.D.
• Professor
• Department of Biostatistics
• University of Washington
• Seattle, Washington

• Barbara F. Westmoreland, M.D.
• Professor of Neurology
• EEG Laboratory
• Mayo Clinic
• Rochester, Minnesota

Speakers

• Sonia Ancoli-Israel, Ph.D., A.C.P.
• "Critical Review of Epidemiological Studies on Sleep Apnea"
• Associate Adjunct Professor
• Department of Psychiatry
• University of California at San Diego
• La Jolla, California

• Edward O. Bixler, Ph.D.
• "Sleep Laboratory Studies of Insomnia: Specificity and Sensitivity"
• Department of Psychiatry
• Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
• Pennsylvania State University
• Hershey, Pennsylvania

• Donald L. Bliwise, Ph.D.
• "Clinical Consequences of Sleep Apnea for Cognitive Functions"
• Senior Clinical Research Associate
• Sleep Disorders Center
• Stanford Medical School
• Hoover Pavilion
• Stanford, California

• Mary A. Carskadon, Ph.D.
• "Daytime Sleepiness: Clinical Consequences and Treatment"
• Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior
• Brown University
• Bradley Hospital
• East Providence, Rhode Island

• Charles A. Czeisler, M.D., Ph.D.
• "Disorders of Circadian Function: Clinical Consequences and Treatment"
• Director
• Neuroendocrinology Laboratory
• Brigham and Women's Hospital
• Associate Professor of Medicine
• Harvard Medical School
• Boston, Massachusetts

• William C. Dement, M.D., Ph.D., A.C.P.
• "Disturbances of Sleep in the Older Person: Overview of Age-Related Changes in Sleep"
• Lowell W. and Josephine Q. Berry Professor of
• Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the School of Medicine
• Director
• Sleep Disorders Clinic and Research Center
• Stanford University
• Palo Alto, California

• Irwin Feinberg, M.D.
• "Future Research Directions"
• Professor of Psychiatry
• Chief of Psychiatric Research
• University of California at Davis
• Medical Investigator
• Veterans Administration Medical Center
• Psychiatry Service
• Martinez, California

• Christian Guilleminault, M.D.
• "When to Test? Indications for Evaluation"
• Sleep Disorders Research Center
• Stanford University
• Palo Alto, California

• Edward F. Haponik, M.D.
• "Attitudes on Sleep Disturbances of Older Persons by Health Professionals"
• Clinical Director
• Pulmonary Medicine
• Bowman-Gray School of Medicine
• Winston-Salem, North Carolina

• Anthony Kales, M.D.
• "Clinical Diagnosis of Sleep Disorders"
• Chairman and Professor of Psychiatry
• Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
• Pennsylvania State University
• Hershey, Pennsylvania

• Daniel F. Kripke, M.D.
• "Periodic Movements in Sleep: Clinical Consequences and Treatment"
• Professor of Psychiatry
• Veterans Administration Medical Center
• San Diego, California

• Merrill M. Mitler, M.A., Ph.D.
• "Insomnia in the Chronically Ill"
• Director of Research
• Division of Sleep Disorders
• Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation
• La Jolla, California

• Timothy H. Monk, Ph.D.
• "Shift Work and the Older Worker"
• Associate Professor of Psychiatry
• University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
• Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Allan I. Pack, M.D., Ph.D.
• "Where to Test? Ambulatory Monitoring or Sleep Laboratory: Cost Effectiveness and Test Validity"
• Director
• Penn Center for Sleep Disorders
• University of Pennsylvania Medical Center
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Charles P. Pollak, M.D.
• "Clinical and Social Consequences of Disordered Sleep"
• Director
• Institute of Chronobiology
• Head
• Sleep Wake Disorders Center
• Associate Professor of Neurology in Neurology and Psychiatry
• New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center
• White Plains, New York

• Patricia N. Prinz, Ph.D.
• "Sleep in Alzheimer's Dementia and in Healthy Not-Complaining Seniors"
• Professor
• Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
• Director
• Sleep and Aging Research Program
• University of Washington
• Seattle, Washington

• David M. Rapoport, M.D.
• "Nonsurgical Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome"
• Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine
• Department of Medicine
• New York University Medical Center
• New York, New York

• John E. Remmers, M.D.
• "Indications and Rationale for Treatment of Sleep-Disordered Breathing in Older People"
• Professor of Internal Medicine and Medical Physiology
• Director
• Respiratory Research Group
• Director
• Center for Advancement of Health
• University of Calgary
• Calgary, Alberta
• CANADA

• Charles F. Reynolds III, M.D.
• "Subjective and Objective Sleep Complaints in Late Life"
• Professor of Psychiatry
• University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
• Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Howard P. Roffwarg, M.D.
• "Common Sleep Practices and Myths"
• Professor and Director of Research in Psychiatry
• Director
• Sleep Study Unit
• President
• American Sleep Disorders Association
• University of Texas Southwest Medical Center at Dallas
• Dallas, Texas

• Thomas Roth, Ph.D.
• "How Should Treatment Efficacy Be Monitored?"
• Director
• Sleep Disorders and Research Center
• Henry Ford Hospital
• Detroit, Michigan

• John W. Shepard, Jr., M.D.
• "Surgical Therapy for Sleep Apnea"
• Associate Professor of Medicine
• Medical Director
• Sleep Disorders Center
• Mayo Clinic
• Rochester, Minnesota

• Michael J. Thorpy, M.D.
• "Classification and Definition of Sleep Disorders"
• Associate Professor of Neurology
• Albert Einstein College of Medicine
• Director
• Sleep-Wake Disorders Center
• Montefiore Medical Center
• Bronx, New York

• Philip Westbrook, M.D., A.C.P.
• "The Treatment of Sleep Disorders in Older People: Educating the Health Professional"
• Director
• Sleep Disorders Center
• Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
• University of California at Los Angeles
• Los Angeles, California

• Vincent Zarcone, M.D.
• "Education To Improve Sleep Hygiene"
• Program Director
• Sartori Program
• Veterans Administration Medical Center
• Palo Alto, California

Planning Committee

• Andrew Monjan, Ph.D., M.P.H.
• Planning Committee Chairman
• Chief
• Neurobiology and Neuropsychology of Aging Units
• National Institute on Aging
• National Institutes of Health
• Bethesda, Maryland

• Shirley P. Bagley, M.S.
• Assistant Director for Special Programs
• Office of the Director
• National Institute on Aging
• National Institutes of Health
• Bethesda, Maryland

• Linda Blankenbaker
• Program Analyst
• Office of Medical Applications of Research
• National Institutes of Health
• Bethesda, Maryland

• F.J. Brinley, Jr., M.D., Ph.D.
• Director
• Division of Convulsive, Developmental, and Neuromuscular Disorders
• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
• National Institutes of Health
• Bethesda, Maryland

• Charles A. Czeisler, M.D., Ph.D.
• Director
• Neuroendocrinology Laboratory
• Brigham and Women's Hospital
• Associate Professor of Medicine
• Harvard Medical School
• Boston, Massachusetts

• William C. Dement, M.D., Ph.D., A.C.P.
• Director
• Lowell W. and Josephine Q. Berry Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences in the School of Medicine
• Sleep Disorder Clinic and Research Center
• Stanford University
• Palo Alto, California

• Marian Emr
• Deputy Information Officer
• Public Information Office
• National Institute on Aging
• National Institutes of Health
• Bethesda, Maryland

• Irwin Feinberg, M.D.
• Chief of Psychiatry
• Director of Psychiatric Research
• University of California at Davis
• Medical Investigator
• Veterans Administration Medical Center
• Psychiatry Service
• Martinez, California

• John H. Ferguson, M.D.
• Director
• Office of Medical Applications of Research
• National Institutes of Health
• Bethesda, Maryland

• William H. Hall
• Director of Communications
• Office of Medical Applications of Research
• National Institutes of Health

• Robert J. Joynt, M.D., Ph.D.
• Conference and Panel Chairman
• Vice President and Vice Provost of Health Affairs
• University of Rochester
• Rochester, New York

• James P. Kiley, Ph.D.
• Chief
• Airways Diseases Branch
• Division of Lung Diseases
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
• National Institutes of Health
• Bethesda, Maryland

• Nancy Ludewig
• Conference Coordinator
• Prospect Associates
• Rockville, Maryland

• George Niederehe, Ph.D.
• Head
• Geriatric Treatment Research Program
• Mental Disorders of the Aging Branch
• National Institutes of Mental Health
• Bethesda, Maryland

• Allan I. Pack, M.D., Ph.D.
• Director
• Penn Center for Sleep Disorders
• University of Pennsylvania Medical Center
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Creighton H. Phelps, Ph.D.
• Vice President
• Medicine and Science Affairs
• Alzheimer's Association
• Chicago, Illinois

• Dina Rice
• Conference Coordinator
• Prospect Associates
• Rockville, Maryland

• Zekin Shakhashiri, M.D., M.P.H.
• Senior Medical Officer
• Office of Planning and Analysis
• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
• National Institutes of Health
• Bethesda, Maryland

Conference Sponsors

• National Institute on Aging
• T. Franklin Williams, M.D.
• Director

• Office of Medical Applications of Research
• John H. Ferguson, M.D.
• Director

• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
• Claude Lenfant, M.D.
• Director

• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
• Murray Goldstein, D.O., M.P.H.
• Director

• National Institute of Mental Health
• Lewis L. Judd, M.D.
• Director

This statement was originally published as: The Treatment of Sleep Disorders of Older People. NIH Consens Statement 1990 Mar 26-28;8(3):1-22.

For making bibliographic reference to the statement in the electronic form displayed here, it is recommended that the following format be used: The Treatment of Sleep Disorders of Older People. NIH Consens Statement Online 1990 Mar 26-28 [cited year month day];8(3):1-22. [PubMed: 2094480]

NIH Consensus Statements are prepared by a nonadvocate, non-Federal panel of experts, based on (1) presentations by investigators working in areas relevant to the consensus questions during a 2-day public session; (2) questions and statements from conference attendees during open discussion periods that are part of the public session; and (3) closed deliberations by the panel during the remainder of the second day and morning of the third. This statement is an independent report of the consensus panel and is not a policy statement of the NIH or the Federal Government.