SEATTLE, May 3 -- Light, physical activity and other non-drug therapies may be as effective against insomnia in the elderly as pharmacologic interventions, researchers said here.

Environmental factors may be particularly important for residents in long-term-care facilities, according to a panel of presenters at a Takeda Pharmaceuticals-sponsored satellite symposium at the American Geriatrics Society meeting.

Aging is usually accompanied by decreases in total sleep time and sleep quality as well as a shift in circadian rhythms toward an "early-to-bed, early-to-rise" pattern, said Phyllis Zee, M.D., Ph.D., of Northwestern University in Chicago.

These disruptions are even more severe in patients with dementia and those in nursing homes, she said.