Effects of a Brief Behavioral Training Program on Sleep Quality in Older Adults With Moderate Sleep Disturbances

Sleep disturbances are very common among elderly population and mostly remain incurable. Practical, brief, and effective interventions are needed to promote sleep quality in older adults with moderate sleep disturbances. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a brief behavioral training program in ameliorating sleep quality in older adults suffering from moderate sleep disturbances.

This study was conducted on 64 older adults with moderate sleep disturbances, as defined by Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score ≥ 5. Participants were randomly allocated to either intervention (n = 32) or control (n = 32) group. Older adults in the intervention group received a brief behavioral-based sleep training program which was delivered in a single in-person session followed by four telephone sessions during 4 weeks. While their peers in the control group did not receive any intervention. The main outcome of the study was scores on the PSQI which was compared at pre- and post-intervention between both groups. Data were analyzed using the SPSS software version 19.0.

At 4 weeks, PSQI scores decreased in older adults receiving intervention, as compared with the scores of participants to the control group (P < 0.001). Subjects in the intervention group also showed sig nificant improvements in sleep latency, subjective sleep quality, sleep duration, and sleep efficiency (P < 0.05).

Brief behavioral interventions may be promising and useful for older adult population with moderate problems, and can be considered an efficacious and non-invasive intervention approach to improve elderly’s sleep quality.