Insomnia is among the most prevalent sleep complaints reported by older adults characterized by difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep, accompanied with daytime consequences. Studies have estimated that up to 40-50 per cent of adults over the age of 60 report disturbed sleep22. Subtypes of insomnia include sleep onset insomnia (difficulty initiating sleep), sleep maintenance insomnia (difficulty maintaining sleep throughout the night), early morning insomnia (early morning awakenings with difficulty returning to sleep), and psychophysiologic insomnia (behaviourally conditioned sleep difficulty resulting from maladaptive cognitions and/or behaviours), the most common among older adults being maintenance and early morning insomnia. Depending on the course of the sleep disturbance, insomnia can be classified as transient (lasting only a few days before or during a stressful experience), short-term (lasting a few weeks during an extended period of stress or adjustment), or chronic (enduring several months or years after a precipitating event).
People from all age groups with chronic sleep difficulty show poorer attention, slower response times, problems with short-term memory, and decreased performance levels. However, insomnia is especially problematic in older adults as it puts them at greater risk for falls, cognitive impairment, poor physical