Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder.
It may involve trouble falling asleep, frequent or prolonged awakenings in the night, or early morning awakenings with an inability to return to sleep. If left untreated, chronic insomnia may increase the senior's vulnerability to major depression and may hasten nursing home placement. When insomnia is treated, the most common form of treatment is a drug. The authors of this study sought to evaluate the beneficial effects of behavioral and drug therapies, both singly and combined. The study was designed as a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial.