Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of zopiclone combined with trazodone therapy on sleep structure in elderly patients with depression. Methods 96 elderly depression patients admitted to Beijing Changping District Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine from January 2020 to December 2021 were selected, and divided into two groups according to the random number table method. The control group of 47 patients were treated with trazolone alone, and 49 patients in the experimental group were treated with zopicone and trazolone. The sleep structure of the elderly patients with depression and the effeetive rate in the two groups was detected, and the levels of serum dopamine (DA), norepinephrine (NE), cortisol and serotonin (5-HT) were detected in the two groups. Results The response rate of the experimental group was slightly higher than that of the control group, but the differences were not significant (P>0.05). Before treatment, there were no significant differences in sleep efficiency, total sleep time, REM sleep period, sleep onset latency, non-REM sleep period, number of awakenings and awakening time between the two groups (P>0.05). After treatment, the sleep efficiency, REM sleep period, total sleep time, and non-REM sleep period of the two groups were significantly increased (P<0.05), and the sleep-onset latency, number of awakenings and awakening time were significantly decreased (P<0.05). The sleep efficiency, REM sleep period, total sleep time, and non-REM sleep period of the observation group were significantly higher than those of the control group (P<0.05), and the sleep onset latency, number of awakenings and awakening time were significantly lower than those of the control group group (P<0.05). After treatment, the levels of serum DA, NE and 5-HT in the two groups were significantly higher than those before treatment (P<0.05), and the levels of cortisol were significantly lower than those before treatment (P<0.05). After treatment, there were no significant differences in the levels of serum DA, NE and 5-HT between two groups (P>0.05). After treatment, the cortisol level in the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion Zopiclone combined with trazodone has a significant effect on elderly patients with depression, and can effectively improve their sleep structure, which is worthy of application.

Key words: zopiclone, trazodone therapy, geriatric depression, sleep architecture