DISCUSSING INSOMNIA IN THE ELDERLY IN THE CURRENT BRAZILIAN SCENARIO: OPTIONS FOR NON-PHARMACOLOGICAL TREATMENT

Abstract

In recent decades, population aging has increased in Brazil. More elderly people within the national scenario required effective changes in healthcare methods, aiming to treat this population in a specific way with an emphasis on the management of chronic diseases and the advent of polypharmacy inherent to the aging process. In this scenario, a challenge that became more common was insomnia. It can be defined as the difficulty in initiating and maintaining sleep. It has three basic classifications: initial, intermediate and final. The first is associated with difficulty falling asleep. The second, with the difficulty in maintaining sleep. The last, with early awakening (much earlier than expected), where the individual is unable to go back to sleep. It should be noted that initial insomnia is the one that most affects the geriatric population, being the most prevalent. Therefore, this narrative literature review brought together articles in the main databases aiming to point out the main non-drug measures for the treatment of insomnia in the elderly, conditioning their adherence to the current Brazilian social scenario. It was concluded that the main non-drug treatments for treating insomnia in the elderly include sleep hygiene education, behavioral therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy.