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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Alzheimer's & Dementia

Why sleep assessment belongs in the memory clinic

  • Anastasia Suraev1,2
  • Mariana Fernandes3
  • Andrew Lim4
  • Fang Han5,6
  • Sharon L. Naismith1,2
  • Claudio Liguori3,7,8
8 affiliations
  1. 1Healthy Brain Ageing Program, Brain and Mind Centre Faculty of Science University of Sydney Camperdown New South Wales Australia
  2. 2Charles Perkins Centre University of Sydney Camperdown New South Wales Australia
  3. 3Department of Systems Medicine University of Rome Tor Vergata Rome Italy
  4. 4Division of Neurology Department of Medicine, Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre University of Toronto Toronto Ontario Canada
  5. 5The Division of Sleep Medicine Peking University People's Hospital Beijing China
  6. 6PKU‐IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research Beijing China
  7. 7Neurology Unit University Hospital of Rome Tor Vergata Rome Italy
  8. 8IRCCS Neuromed Pozzilli (IS) Italy
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Abstract

Sleep disturbances are highly prevalent in older adults and are particularly common among individuals attending memory clinics for assessment of cognitive impairment. Emerging evidence links sleep disorders, including insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea, circadian rhythm disruption, and rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, to cognitive decline, neurodegenerative pathology, and reduced quality of life for patients and caregivers. Despite their high prevalence and clinical relevance, sleep disturbances are not routinely assessed within many memory clinic and neurologic, psychiatric, and geriatric settings, and approaches to screening, diagnosis, and management vary widely across health‐care systems. This Perspective article examines current approaches to sleep assessment and management within memory clinic and specialized settings across four international contexts. We highlight the absence of systematic approaches to identifying and managing sleep disturbances in this population and propose the need for a pragmatic stepped‐care framework to improve detection, guide referral pathways, and support more consistent and personalized care in memory clinic settings.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{suraev2026sleep,
  title = {{Why sleep assessment belongs in the memory clinic}},
  author = {Anastasia Suraev and Mariana Fernandes and Andrew Lim and Fang Han and Sharon L. Naismith and Claudio Liguori},
  journal = {Alzheimer's \& Dementia},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1002/alz.71880},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.71880},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Why sleep assessment belongs in the memory clinic
AU  - Anastasia Suraev
AU  - Mariana Fernandes
AU  - Andrew Lim
AU  - Fang Han
AU  - Sharon L. Naismith
AU  - Claudio Liguori
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/01
JO  - Alzheimer's & Dementia
DO  - 10.1002/alz.71880
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.71880
AB  - Sleep disturbances are highly prevalent in older adults and are particularly common among individuals attending memory clinics for assessment of cognitive impairment. Emerging evidence links sleep disorders, including insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea, circadian rhythm disruption, and rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, to cognitive decline, neurodegenerative pathology, and reduced quality of life for patients and caregivers. Despite their high prevalence and clinical relevance, sleep disturbances are not routinely assessed within many memory clinic and neurologic, psychiatric, and geriatric settings, and approaches to screening, diagnosis, and management vary widely across health‐care systems. This Perspective article examines current approaches to sleep assessment and management within memory clinic and specialized settings across four international contexts. We highlight the absence of systematic approaches to identifying and managing sleep disturbances in this population and propose the need for a pragmatic stepped‐care framework to improve detection, guide referral pathways, and support more consistent and personalized care in memory clinic settings.
SN  - 1552-5260
SN  - 1552-5279
ER  -