Citation

Guidozzi F. Climacteric 2015; 18(5): 715-721.

Affiliation

Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand , South Africa.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

26249643

Abstract

Sleep disturbances increase with increasing age in both males and females and become fairly common in the older community when compared to their younger counterparts. Even though these sleep disturbances increase with advancing age, there are nevertheless inherent differences in sleep disturbances between males and females. When compared to older men, older women will have a longer sleep latency (number of minutes it takes to fall asleep), more daytime sleepiness, will sleep about 20 min less per day, have less NREM stages 1 and 2 sleep, have more slow-wave sleep, and are more predisposed to REM sleep. Women have at least a 40% increased risk for developing insomnia, are at twice the risk for restless legs syndrome, will have different obstructive sleep apnea symptoms and more partial obstructions during sleep compared to men. They are also less likely to use antidepressants but will metabolize zolpidem 50% slower than men.

Language: en