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  3. Sleep disturbances in caregivers of persons with dementia: contributing factors and treatment implications

Sleep disturbances in caregivers of persons with dementia: contributing factors and treatment implications

Estimates suggest that there are more than 10 million adult caregivers of persons with dementia, two-thirds of who experience some form of sleep disturbance during the course of their caregiving career. Health care professionals are in the best position to detect and address this significant public health problem. Three major contributors to caregiver sleep disturbance are discussed in this paper: (1) the presence of caregiver disrupted sleep routines; (2) caregiver burden and depression; and, (3) the caregiver's physical health status. Successful treatment of a caregiver's sleep disturbance requires careful consideration of each of these contributors. We review and analyze the scientific literature concerning the multiple complex factors associated with the development and maintenance of sleep disturbances in caregivers. We provide a clinical vignette that illustrates the interplay of these contributing factors, and close by providing recommendations for clinicians and researchers treating and investigating the development and maintenance of sleep problems in family caregivers.

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Key Information

Type of Reference
Jour
Type of Work
Journal article
Publisher
Elsevier
ISBN/ISSN
1087-0792
Publication Year
2007
Issue Number
2
Journal Titles
Sleep medicine reviews
Volume Number
11
Start Page
143
End Page
153