The role of lifestyle in nocturnal sleep was examined in the healthy elderly.
The Philadelphia Geriatric Center morale scale and the self-confidence scale were used
to select high- and low-volitional elderly individuals (n=10 each, mean age=73.2 years).
Their activity levels were monitored by a wrist actigraph for 10 consecutive days. On the
fourth and eighth nights, polysomnograms were recorded at their homes using an ambulatory
monitoring system. Although the daytime activity level did not differ between the groups,
high-volitional individuals had better nocturnal sleep than low-volitional individuals: nocturnal
awakening was shorter, slow wave sleep was longer, EEG delta power in the first sleep cycle was
higher, and the feeling after rising was better. Daily logs revealed that high-volitional
individuals spent more time in mental activities during the daytime than low-volitional individuals.
These results suggest that a high-volitional lifestyle may contribute to maintaining good nocturnal
sleep in the elderly.