# DISRUPTIVE NOCTURNAL BEHAVIORS IN ELDER-CAREGIVER PAIRS

> **NIH NIH R01** · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · 1992 · $174,285

## Abstract

Institutionalization of the elderly costs U.S. society over $40 billion a
year and costs elders their autonomy.  Admissions to long-term care
institutions occur when families, most of which have striven to maintain
the elder at home, find that they can no longer cope.  Efforts to relieve
families of the strain of caregiving have met with only partial success.
Most effective would be the amelioration of the disorder(s) that make
elders dependent on caregivers.  Among the few disorders of the elderly
that contribute to caregiver burden but can be successfully treated are
disorders of sleep.  Caregivers often cite nocturnal behaviors that
disrupt their own sleep as leading causes of strain, and elders,
complaints regarding sleep are important predictors of eventual
institutionalization.  This investigation will target elders receiving
adult day care and others at high risk for institutionalization.  Those
residing with caregivers and reporting disruptive nocturnal behaviors
will be interviewed at length regarding sleep and other risk factors for
institutionalization.  Their sleep as well as that of their caregivers
will then be quantified by means of daily sleep logs and ambulatory
monitoring of body movements, both for 9 days, followed by a diagnostic
sleep recording performed in the home.  Elders with 2 types of sleep
maintenance insomnia will be randomly assigned to active treatment and
control groups.  Cases of insomnia associated with depression will be
treated with nortriptyline; remaining cases associated with early timing
of sleep and free of polygraphic sleep abnormalities will be treated in
the evening with bright light.  The interview, sleep logs and ambulatory
monitoring will be repeated after treatment.  Short and long-term
measures of treatment outcome will include the quality of life of elders
and caregivers, including caregiver burden and demoralization; doctor
visits and short-stay hospital days; and length of time elders continue
to live in the community before institutionalization finally becomes
necessary.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3123326
- **Project number:** 1R01AG011382-01
- **Recipient organization:** WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV
- **SAM.gov UEI:** YNT8TCJH8FQ8
- **Principal Investigator:** CHARLES P POLLAK
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1992
- **Award amount:** $174,285
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 1992-09-10 → 1997-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3123326

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3123326, DISRUPTIVE NOCTURNAL BEHAVIORS IN ELDER-CAREGIVER PAIRS (1R01AG011382-01). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3123326. Licensed CC0.

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