Health Conditions

What are the risk factors?

Most short-term sleep disorders are caused by one or more of the following factors:

• lifestyle changes, such as marriage or retirement
• stressful situations, such as the death of a loved one or job pressure
• physical disorders
• environment

Chronic sleep disorders have numerous possible causes. These include:

• medical conditions - especially those producing pain
• psychiatric conditions such as depression
• drug use (including alcohol, nicotine, or caffeine)
• environments that are not conducive to sleep

Many conditions that cause sleep disorders are associated with the elderly, which could explain why insomnia is 1.5 times more common in people older than age 65. In addition to physical conditions that disrupt sleep, elderly people tend to experience changes in sleep patterns leading to fewer hours of quality sleep per night.

Women, especially those who are postmenopausal, are more likely to suffer from sleep disorders than men. However, laboratory studies show that men are more likely to experience disrupted sleep patterns than women.