The use of music to promote sleep in older women.

Fifty-two women over the age of 70 participated in a study to investigate the use of an individualized music protocol to promote sleep onset and maintenance. They were recruited from the practices of physicians and nurse practitioners, and met the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the International Classification of Sleep Disorders (1990), and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (1994). Results indicated that the use of music decreased time to sleep onset and the number of nighttime awakenings. Consequently, it increased satisfaction with sleep. Nurses may wish to recommend the use of music at bedtime to older women with insomnia.