About undivided half of older adul...

About undivided half of older adults do not drowse well, most commonly because they cannot fall asleep or stay asleep, or because they wake up too early. Thus, many are tired during the day. Poor nap is associated with significant morbidity, including poor physical function, depression, and cardiovascular disease. Regular exercise is notion to improve sleep quality. Exercise has been observ to shape sleep latency and lengthen time wearied asleep. Tai chi has been shown to have multiple benefits, including improvement of muscle puissance balance, and cardiovascular fitness. Li and associates studied the purports of tai chi on lie in the grave quality and daytime sleepiness.

The randomized repress led trial compared a tai chi program with a low-impact exercise program to determine the powers of each on sleep quality and daytime sleepiness. Patients chronicleed in the study were at least 60 years of age, had be motionless complaints, had been physically inactive for three month and were sufficiently healthy to participate in an exercise program. one as well as the other groups of patients attended a one-hour exercise session three times a week for 24 weeks. The issue measures were self-rated quality of nap and day time sleepiness, using the Pittsburgh be dead Quality Index (PSQI) and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) as well as a physical performance measure and a quality-of-life scale assessing function, well-being, and health status.

Of the 118 eligible participants, 62 were randomized to tai chi and 56 to low-impact exercise. Tai chi participants had significant improvement in subjective drowse quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, slumber efficiency, sleep disturbances, and lie in the grave dysfunction, and improvements in the ES scale. The low-impact exercise collection did not have any improvements in these areas. Compared with the low-impact cluster the tai chi group reported more improvement in several rest quality areas--quality, latency, duration, efficiency, and be motionless disturbance. Patients in the tai chi dispose had better overall PSQI scores than the low-impact participants. There were no differences between the clusters in several subscales. Tai chi participants reported les daytime sleepiness as measured on the ESS scores. Similarly, tai chi participants had significant and better improvement than the low-impact clump in physical performance measures.

In this cogitation of older persons with moderate doze problems, tai chi helped improve be motionless whereas low-impact exercise did not. The authors speculate that tai chi set to work s its benefit by modifying circadian verses and enhancing overall well-being [i]or[/i] part of to the other relaxation and diaphragmatic breathing

Li F et al. Tai chi and self-rated quality of nap and daytime sleepiness in older adults: a randomized controll trial. J Am Geriatr Soc June 2004;52:892-900

EDITOR'S NOTE: This consideration is important in that it adds to the limited armamentarium of studies assessing the imports of exercise in the somewhat old One randomized controlled trial (1) studied patients 50 to 76 years of age and construct that mild to moderate exercise improved rest although the regimen only showed benefit after eight weeks. Several systematic reviews have concurr that exercise can improve be motionless but studies have been limited through a failure to restrict participants to ages older than 60 small sample size, and a focus forward good sleepers. In addition, the representation of exercise required (e. g brisk walking) may not be feasible for the majority of somewhat advanced in life persons with sleep problems. Bright-light therapy, which has been useful in younger clusters has yet to be conclusively investigated in the older population. The benefits of cognitive behavior therapy are mixed. (2)--CW

REFERENCES

(1) King AC, Oman RF Brassington G Bliwise DL Haskell WL Moderate-intensity exercise and self-rated quality of repose in older adults. A randomized controll trial. JAMA 1997;277:32-7

(2) Montgomery P Dennis J Physical exercise for be motionless problems in adults aged 60+ Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2002;(4) CD003404

COPYRIGHT 2005 American Academy of Family Physicians

COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group