title: Health maintenance issues of the elderly. Sleep.
abstract: Our understanding of the effect of aging on normal sleep and specific sleep disorders in the elderly has increased significantly in the last decade. Sleep complaints and the use of sedative hypnotics in the elderly are now more frequent than in younger patients. It is important in the management of elderly patients to determine whether a formal laboratory evaluation of a patient needs to be undertaken to diagnose a specific sleep disorder prior to initiating drug therapy for nonspecific complaints of difficulty with sleep.
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*