Clinical Characteristics of Elderly Patients Aged over 65 Years with Insomnia Symptoms

Address for correspondence Won Chul Shin, MD Department of Neurology, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, 892 Dongnam-ro, Gangdong-gu, Seoul 134-727, Korea Tel: +82-2-440-6166 Fax: +82-2-440-7262 E-mail: shinwc@khu.ac.kr Objectives: Sleeping problems and disorders generally increase with aging, and these changes influence elderly functioning and well-being. We studied the clinical characteristics of the elderly patients with insomnia symptoms for the appropriate diagnosis in Korea. Methods: Patients aged over 65 years with insomnia symptoms were recruited from Sleep Center of Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, from January 2010 to April 2013. General characteristics of sleep patterns, past medical history, previous medication related sleep, sleep diary, and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) were analyzed to understand the sleep pattern and the clinical characteristics in the elderly patients with insomnia symptoms. Results: The study population included 143 patients (45 men, 98 female), and their mean age was 71.41±5.32 years. These patients were classified according to the cause of insomnia symptoms, the primary cause was 39.1% (92.8% psychophysiological insomnia, 7.2% paradoxical insomnia), the secondary cause was 34.2% (depression, anxiety, associated medical illness, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, restless legs syndrome), and circadian rhythm sleep disorder was 26.6%. The MMPI-2 profiles were not significant differences in the study population. Conclusions: The clinical characteristics in our study population were different in variable parameters from the general population. It is necessary to understand these differences in the elderly patients for approaching the appropriate diagnosis and medical care. J Korean Sleep Res Soc 2013;10:25-30