Experiences of sleep and benzodiazepine use among older women

J Women Aging. 2015;27(2):123-39. doi: 10.1080/08952841.2014.928173. Epub 2015 Jan 12.

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).

Keywords: benzodiazepine; sleep; sleep management; sleep problems.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Benzodiazepines / therapeutic use*
  • Drinking
  • Eating
  • Environment
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Qualitative Research
  • Reading
  • Sleep / drug effects*
  • Sleep Aids, Pharmaceutical / therapeutic use*
  • Sleep Wake Disorders / drug therapy*
  • Sleep Wake Disorders / etiology

Substances

  • Sleep Aids, Pharmaceutical
  • Benzodiazepines