TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1992//
TI  - Napping and 24-hour sleep/wake patterns in healthy elderly and young adults
JO  - Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
A1  - Kupfer, D. J.
A1  - Reynolds, Charles F.
A1  - Monk, T. H.
A1  - Browman, K. E.
A1  - Buysse, Daniel J.
A1  - Fasiczka, A. L.
SP  - 779
EP  - 786
VL  - 40
IS  - 8
N2  - OBJECTIVE: To examine differences between healthy elderly and young adults in daytime napping, nocturnal sleep, and 24-hour sleep/wake patterns. A second objective was to determine whether elderly subjects with more and less frequent naps differed in their clinical features or nocturnal sleep. DESIGN: Survey by sleep/wake logs and polysomnography. Comparison by age. SETTING: Sleep/wake logs were completed in the subjects' homes. Polysomnographic studies were conducted on an outpatient basis in a sleep and chronobiology research laboratory. SUBJECTS: Convenience samples of forty-five healthy subjects over 78 years of age (21M, 24F) and 33 healthy adults between 20 and 30 years of age (20M, 13F). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Using self-reports, we estimated the frequency and timing of daytime naps; timing, duration, and quality of nocturnal sleep; and 24-hour patterns of sleep and wakefulness. Also polysomnographic sleep measures. RESULTS: Compared to young adults, elderly subjects reported a greater mean number of daytime naps (P = .004), shorter nocturnal sleep with more wakefulness and earlier sleep hours (P less than .003 for each), and a trend for a shorter 24-hour sleep fraction. Among the elderly, more-frequent and less-frequent nappers did not differ in clinical ratings, self-report sleep measures, or polysomnographic measures. There was a trend for more sleep-disordered breathing and periodic limb movements in more frequent nappers. CONCLUSIONS: These findings are consistent with an age-related decrease in amplitude of the circadian sleep propensity rhythm, or with the expression of a semi-circadian (12-hour) sleepiness rhythm. However, we cannot exclude the additional possibility that napping results from lifestyle factors and nocturnal sleep pathologies in a subset of the elderly.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0002-8614
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -