The Association Between Sleep Duration and Functional Disability in Inpatient Stroke Rehabilitation: A Pilot Observational Study

 So you described a problem but threw up your hands in defeat and did nothing to solve it. This is why observational studies are pretty much useless.

The Association Between Sleep Duration and Functional Disability in Inpatient Stroke Rehabilitation: A Pilot Observational Study

Author links open overlay panelCierraWilliams-CookeM.A.¹EliseWattsPT, DPT²JonathanBonnettPTA²MohammedAlshehriPT, M.S.¹CatherineSiengsukonPT, PhD¹

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arrct.2021.100150Get rights and content

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Abstract

Objective

To describe the change in sleep duration during inpatient rehabilitation, and to determine if sleep quality and sleep duration is associated with functional disability for individuals following stroke. It was hypothesized that participants who experienced optimal sleep during inpatient rehab would have greater functional ability at discharge.

Design

longitudinal observation study.

Setting

inpatient rehabilitation unit at a large, urban hospital.

Participants

Thirty-seven individuals with acute stroke (M_age = 62.5, SD = 11.8, Males = 20, Females = 17) were recruited from September 2018 to September 2019. Participants were invited to participate in the study by clinical personnel associated with their usual care as they were admitted to inpatient rehabilitation.

Interventions

Not applicable.

Maim Outcome Measure

Participants were asked to wear an actigraph for the duration of their rehabilitation program to assess sleep. The first three nights of actigraphy data was averaged to obtain total sleep time (TST) and sleep efficiency (SE) at admission and the last three nights was averaged for TST and SE at discharge. Functional disability (primary outcome was Functional Independent Measure, (FIM)) at admission and discharge was gathered from the participants’ medical records. One-way ANOVAs and chi-square analyses assessed for group differences, and regression modeling was used to determine if sleep was associated with functional ability at discharge.

Results

Sixteen (43%) participants were categorized as “good sleepers” and 21 (57%) were “poor sleepers” based on their TST at admission. Of the poor sleepers, 14 (66%) participants remained short duration sleepers (< 7 hours at admission and discharge). Sleep outcomes did not significantly predict FIM score at discharge.

Conclusion

Most participants had less than optimal sleep duration during inpatient rehabilitation. Efforts may be warranted to optimize sleep during inpatient rehabilitation.(A useless statement.)