Social Work Today E-Zine

More than one half of older adults complain about having difficulties sleeping. Most don't bother seeking treatment. Those who do usually turn either to medications, which can lead to other health problems, or behavior therapies, which are costly and often not available close to home. Now, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers report in the journal Sleep that practicing tai chi chih promotes sleep quality in older adults with moderate sleep complaints.

In the study, 112 healthy adults ranging in age from 59 to 86 were randomly assigned to one of two groups for a 25-week period: The first group practiced 20 simple tai chi chih moves; the other participated in health education classes that included advice on stress management, diet, and sleep habits.

The study found that the tai chi chih group showed improved sleep quality and a remission of clinical impairments, such as drowsiness during the day and inability to concentrate, compared with those receiving health education. The tai chi chih participants showed improvements in their own self-rating of sleep quality, sleep duration, and sleep disturbance.

The lead study author, Michael Irwin, MD, the Norman Cousins Professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and director of the UCLA Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, notes that 58% of adults aged 59 and older report having difficulty sleeping at least a few nights each week. "Poor sleeping constitutes one of the most common difficulties facing older adults," says Irwin.

— Source: University of California, Los Angeles