CONTENTS

Table of Contents
Introduction

1. Overview
2. Recognizing Alcohol Misuse and Abuse in Older Adults
3. Alcohol and Aging
4. Diagnosing Alcohol Problems in Older Adults
5. Recognizing Other Forms of Substance Abuse
6. Prevention and Early Intervention Strategies
7. Treatment
8. Outcomes and Cost Issues in Alcohol Treatment for Older Adults
9. Legal and Ethical Issues

Supplements
Resources

At Any Age, It Does Matter:
Substance Abuse and Older Adults (for Professionals)

Sleep Disorders

Sleep disorders and sleep disturbances represent another group of comorbid disorders associated with excessive alcohol use and with aging.^53,54,73 Older adults sometimes self-medicate their sleep disturbances with alcohol.⁵⁴

Sleep history should be recorded in a systematic way in order to both document the changes in sleep problems over time and heighten the awareness of sleep hygiene. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index⁷⁴ is useful as both a research and screening scale but is difficult for clinicians to interpret and cumbersome to use. Clinicians may opt to carefully document sleep patterns and disturbances themselves rather than use this instrument.⁷⁵