Evaluating the effects of medical disorders on sleep in the older patient.

Older adults often experience sleep disturbances, but most fall to mention these sleep problems to their physicians out of a false belief that sleep troubles are just a consequence of getting older. On the contrary, sleep complaints in older adults are often the result of medical or psychiatric illnesses that can be managed, resulting in a return to restful sleep. It is important for physicians and patients to communicate about sleep disturbances, and for physicians to ask appropriate questions targeted at identifying the underlying cause of the sleep problem, particularly in patients with chronic medical conditions.