THE EFFECTS OF TRIAZOLAM AND RILMAZAFONE ON THE PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS IN HEALTHY ELDERLY PERSONS

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether often used hypnotics are safe or not to elderlypeople by evaluating the early morning effects and residual effects on the physical and cognitivefunctions after hypnotic administration.Fourteen healthy elders (3 male, 11 female ; mean age 64 years) took part in the study. Triazolam0.125 mg, rilmazafone hydrochloride 1 mg or placebo was orally given to each subjectbefore going to bed (11 pm). Objective evaluations including 1. Total Sway Path test (openedand closed eye)　2. Functional Reach test　3. Timed Up and Go test　4. Simply DiscriminatoryReaction test　5. Critical Flicker Fusion test　6. Short-Term Memory test were done at 10 pm(an hour before subjects went to bed), 4 am, 6 am, 10 am and 2 pm.Among all evaluations for the physical and cognitive functions, main effects between medicineswere only seen in the Total Sway Path test, which is the indicator for static balance ability. Wheneyes were opened, trembling was significantly small in the rilmazafon group compared to the placebogroup (p=0.04).In this study, the hypnotics did not affect physical and cognitive functions for healthy elders. Furtherstudies using an interdisciplinary approach with different professionals such nurses, physicaltherapists, pharmacists and physicians are needed for evaluating the safety use of hypnotics in theelderly patients with insomnia