Nondrug sleep treatments show promise for older adults, with limited certainty
An umbrella review found encouraging sleep results for cognitive behavioral therapy and exercise, but the underlying evidence was generally weak.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Cognitive behavioral therapy and exercise showed promising sleep results in older adults. For cognitive behavioral therapy, reported changes included falling asleep sooner, less wakefulness after sleep began and higher sleep efficiency. Evidence certainty was low to very low, leaving uncertainty about how dependable these benefits are and how the approaches compare.
Most included reviews had low methodological quality, and their results were too varied for a pooled synthesis. Comparator details and treatment durations are absent from the abstract.
What the review brought together
The authors examined existing reviews to bring together earlier trial findings. They considered cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, exercise, music, manual therapies and combined approaches, assessing both reported outcomes and the strength of the underlying evidence.
Sleep outcomes are distinct
The cognitive behavioral therapy results addressed sleep timing and efficiency, while exercise findings used an overall sleep score. These are different endpoints, making it difficult to use this abstract to rank the treatments against each other.
The original publication
Non-pharmacological interventions for sleep in older adults: an umbrella review and evidence map of randomized controlled trials.
Yu Y, Wang H, Li W et al.
Front Neurol · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40963939
- Record checked
AI-assisted research and writing. This explains one selected publication; it is not a complete review of everything known. Our approach.
One more question, understood.
Keep track of the research you’ve explored.