title: Experiences of sleep and benzodiazepine use among older women.
abstract: Sleep disturbances are common among older women; however, little is known about sleep experiences among chronic benzodiazepine users. The experience of sleep, sleep troubles, and management of sleep problems were explored through semistructured interviews with 12 women aged 65-92 who had used a benzodiazepine for three months or longer to treat a sleep disturbance. Themes that emerged from an interpretive phenomenological analysis included multiple reasons for sleep disruptions (health problems, mental disturbances, and sleeping arrangements), opposing effects of benzodiazepines on sleep (helps or does not work), and several supplemental sleep strategies (modification of the environment, distraction, and consumption).
authors.affiliation: a Gerontology Research Centre, Simon Fraser University , Vancouver , British Columbia , Canada.
authors.forename: Sarah L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Canham
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Rubinstein
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004326:Drinking; D004435:Eating; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011932:Reading; D012890:Sleep / Q000187:drug effects*; D000068776:Sleep Aids, Pharmaceutical / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D000068776:Sleep Aids, Pharmaceutical; D001569:Benzodiazepines
keywords: benzodiazepine; sleep; sleep management; sleep problems