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Protecting Sleep Quality in Later Life

A Pilot Study of Bed Restriction and Sleep Hygiene

^a The Intervention Research Center for Late Life Mood Disorders and the Clinical Neuroscience Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pennsylvania

Charles F. Reynolds III, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 3811 O\|[apos ]\|Hara Street, Room 1135-E, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 E-mail: reynoldscf{at}msx.upmc.edu.

Decision Editor: Toni C. Antonucci, PhD

We tested two interventions for improving sleep consolidation and depth in normal elderly participants: a modification of sleep-restriction therapy and sleep-hygiene education. Twenty-one elderly participants without sleep disorders were randomized to sleep hygiene plus bed restriction (i.e., restricting time in bed by 30 minutes nightly for one year) or to sleep hygiene alone. Participants in the bed-restriction group showed a median increase in sleep efficiency of 6.1% versus 1.8% in participants receiving sleep hygiene instruction, and an increase in all-night delta EEG power. Self-reported mood on awakening in the morning showed greater improvement over the first eight weeks in the sleep-hygiene condition. The use of sleep hygiene was associated with initial improvement in daytime well-being, whereas bed restriction led to sustained improvements in sleep continuity and sleep depth.