OBJECTIVES. The objectives of this study were to examine the risk factors of lower quality of sleep in elderly women. Specific objectives were to examine risk factors in elderly women with a sleep disorder associated with: demographical and personal information, general health condition, number and type of chronic illnesses and medications. STUDY DESIGN. A cross-sectional study. PARTICIPANS AND METHODS. Participants were women aged 60 - 80 years, taken from three different offices for family medicine. The total number of analysed women is 105. A Pittsburgh sleep quality index was used for screening women with sleep disorders and women without sleep disorders. The data for testing characteristics of women with a sleep disorder were obtained using a questionnaire and by using data from patients' e-records. RESULTS. Women who have more trouble sleeping, have more tendency to suffer from dyspepsia (p = 0.022) and urinary tract infections (p = 0.006). Also, a great number of women whose sleep is of lower quality use two or more medications that have an impact on mental functions (p = 0.044). Unlike women who have no trouble sleeping, women who have a low quality of sleep have occasional moments of sudden weakness, loss of stability, have ”black outs“ before their eyes (p = 0.012), often feel dizziness (p = 0.042), use antidepressants more often (p = 0.035), have a reduced ability to perform daily activities (p = 0.041) and often describe their mood as changeable and depressed (p = 0.048). CONCLUSION. Results of this study show some of the characteristics of women (60 – 80 years old) with a sleep disorder. More research is needed, with larger number of patients to justify the results obtained in this research.