A survey of daytime napping in an elderly australian population

Abstract

Information on daytime napping was collected from a sample of 500 healthy Australians aged 65 and over in order to establish the characteristics of this phenomenon in a healthy aged population. The total data set was analysed and then broken down into two subsamples (those on sleep medication and those not on sleep medication) for further analysis. Information was obtained on the following: frequency of napping; duration of napping; time of napping; and nocturnal sleep duration. Results indicated that almost 25% of the group studied took a daily nap and that nap frequency increased with age. The average nap duration was approximately 25 minutes and most subjects chose to nap in the postlunch period. The incidence of napping is higher for those on sleep medication and subjects in this group tend to have longer naps. The length of the nocturnal sleep period averaged 399 minutes over the total sample although those who took regular daytime naps tended to have less nocturnal sleep. It is suggested that napping in the elderly may be a manifestation of a biological tendency toward a polyphasic circadian sleep/wake cycle which is constrained by external demands from childhood to late middle age.