Nothing soothes a restless infant to sleep better than a lullaby. For most adults on the other hand, music at bedtime is noise and could actually hinder instead of improve sleep quality. For countless older adults over 60 who have trouble sleeping however, a good lullaby might just be what they need
Studies show that somewhere between 40% and 70% of older adults struggle to get a good shut eye. Moreover, those who sleep successfully often have poor quality of sleep, constantly waking up in the middle of the night.
Inadequate quality sleep is not only a risk for your health but can also lead to a poor quality of life and dissatisfaction..This is because sleep is the body and brains’ time to repair themselves. According to researchers at Taipei’s the National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, lullabies can be the answer to insomnia in senior citizens.
Dr. Yen-Chi, study author and lecturer at Yang Ming Chiao Tung says that music is a great intervention for older adults and can be administered by any caregiver. He adds that music therapy is a great substitute for sedatives and sleeping pills which are not recommended for older adults who are probably already encumbered by other pills for different conditions.
Although the notion has always been that humans need eight hours of sleep, studies show that between six and seven is enough for most people. For the new study, researchers made both an English and Chinese version of the report that analyzed the impact of music therapy on adults over 60 using controlled sleep results from five databases as a source.
According to the report which was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society,two independent investigators reviewed all the studies.The aim of the study was to make a meta-analysis and systematic review of the effects of music on the quality of sleep in senior citizens.
The results revealed that older adults who listen to music in bed have a much better quality of sleep as compared to those who just sleep in silence. The study also showed that those who listen to sedative music had a much more significant difference in sleep quality.