Sleep quality and characteristics of older adults with acute cardiovascular disease

Abstract

leep plays a vital role in restoring the physical and mental health of people with cardiovascular disease. However, the hospital setting is not a conducive environment for sleep. Sleep interruptions by members of the care team, including vital sign checks, medication delivery, and blood draws for laboratory investigations, are routinely done in many hospitals. Frequent interruptions by staff and noise by other patients have been cited as barriers to restorative sleep in the hospital. [1] As a result of these sleep disturbances, nearly half of inpatients self-report poor-sleep quality while in hospital. [2] Poor sleep quality has been shown to worsen depressive symptoms of cardiovascular inpatients. A cross-sectional study of over 90 cardiac inpatients found a significant correlation between an increase in depressive symptoms and subjective sleep quality. [3] There is also evidence that sleep problems may persist in nearly half of patients following hospital discharge, which could result in longerterm adverse health consequences. [2] Prior studies have primarily relied upon subjective sleep surveys in detailing the sleep quality and characteristics of admitted inpatients. [3] Few studies have objectively gathered data on the sleep duration and quality using validated techniques. The gold standard for objective sleep measurement is polysomnography, which captures physiological changes during sleep in measuring brain activity through electroencephalography, skeletal muscle activity through electromyography, and eye movements through electrooculography. [4] However, the use of polysomnography can be burdensome, costly, and invasive. It involves the use of a minimum of 22 wire at-