in light of conflicting findings regarding the impact of
daytime napping on nighttime sleep and recent reports of an association
between napping and adverse clinical outcomes, including increased
mortality risk. Further research is needed to determine whether there
is a cause-and-effect relationship between napping and insomnia, and
between napping and adverse clinical outcomes, and to explore the clinical
implications of improving insomnia and reducing daytime napping.
Clinical evaluations of hypnotic agents should assess efficacy for both
improving insomnia symptoms (particularly sleep-maintenance difficulty,
in the case of elderly patients) and reducing daytime sleepiness that
would lead to inadvertent napping.
Keywords: Elderly, insomnia, daytime