Safely and Effectively Managing Sleep Maintenance Insomnia in Older Adults

Sleep maintenance insomnia is the most common form of sleep disturbance encountered and carries the greatest personal and societal burden, especially in older adults. Despite this, there is a huge unmet need associated with managing sleep maintenance insomnia, as shorter-acting agents are ineffective in maintaining sleep and longer-acting agents, especially those that act on the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor, result in next-day residual and hangover effects, which place older adults at risk for falls. Recently, new agents have begun to emerge that act on orexin receptors and have been demonstrated to have fewer residual effects. Clinicians need to be aware of these, and their distinct mechanism of action, so that sleep maintenance insomnia sufferers are more optimally treated with fewer risks of side effects. In this activity, you will learn about the impact and management of sleep maintenance insomnia, including current approaches, as well as novel and emerging treatments.