Melatonin Receptor Agonists
Sleep Diaries
Sleep diaries are used each morning to rate the quality of a patient’s sleep the previous night (QON), and each evening to rate the overall quality of the day (QOD).1 Quality is evaluated according to a fivegrade severity rating scale:
- 1 – very bad
- 2 – bad
- 3 – fair
- 4 – good
- 5 – very good.
QON and QOD are usually recorded over the last three nights of a particular monitoring period and averaged to yield the final score.2 These categorical scale ratings in sleep diaries are simple and easy-to-use in general medical practice, allowing repeated accurate sampling of quality of sleep.3 It is generally accepted that any change noted by the patient on such scales is of definite clinical relevance.4
Useful Downloads
Online Sleep Diary
This tool will give your patients the possibility to measure their sleep over weeks and months. They can create their own profile on this webpage and use the sleep diary to monitor their sleep over certain periods of time - e.g. 3 weeks. The results may form a foundation for their consultation with the physician.
How to start the online Sleep Diary.
Alternatively, your patient may prefer to keep a paper record of how well much they sleep at night, the quality of their sleep, as well as how they feel during the day.
References:
1. Lemoine P, Nir T, Laudon M, Zisapel N. Prolonged-release melatonin improves sleep quality and morning alertness in insomnia patients aged 55 years and older and has no withdrawal effects. J Sleep Res 2007; 16: 372–380.
2. Wade AG, Ford I, Crawford G, et al. Efficacy of prolonged release melatonin in insomnia patients aged 55–80 years: quality of sleep and next-day alertness outcomes. Curr Med Res Opin 2007; 23 (10): 2597– 2605.
3. Spielman A, Yang C, Glovinsky P. Assessment techniques for insomnia. In: Kryger M, Roth T, Dement E, eds. Principles and practice of sleep medicine. Philadelphia: Saunders Co., 2000: 1239–1250.
4. Riedel BW, Lichstein KL. Objective sleep measures and subjective sleep satisfaction: how do older adults with insomnia define a good night’s sleep. Psychol Aging 1998; 13 (1): 159–63.