Service home residents reported poor sleep quality and disturbed sleep onset. Environmental noise was exclusively reported by institutionalized subjects, and was reported as being a cause of sleep disturbances. The researchers stated that the findings of this study were in line with previous research findings. Further research is needed, with more subjects who are randomly selected, in order to determine the association between institutionalization and objective sleep characteristics. Now that it has been established that there is a high prevalence and a variety of causes of sleep disturbances, the question still remains as to what the most effective treatment is.
Many physicians look towards pharmacological measures to treat patients with sleep disturbances.
Many patients are treated by giving drugs to alleviate the cause of the sleep disturbance. Stoppe et al. One hundred forty five family physicians and 14 neuropsychiatrists were given two sample case histories of demented patients. The physicians were asked how they would treat each patient. Benzodiazepines, antidepressants, and other drugs were seldom chosen as a treatment option.