International psychogeriatrics
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Multicenter Study
Sleep and agitation in nursing home residents with and without dementia.
The prevalence of dementia in Australian nursing homes is high. A large proportion of residents express themselves through agitated behaviors, with substantial interpersonal and day-to-day variance. One factor that may increase agitation is poor sleep. The current study aimed to determine if sleep influences symptoms of agitation in nursing home residents, and whether this effect differed by dementia status. As benzodiazepines are used widely as hypnotic medication, their impact was also considered. ⋯ These results suggest that sleep could play an important role in explaining agitation, but more research is needed to explore the relationship between sleep and benzodiazepines in nursing home residents.