Sleep–wake rhythm during stay in an intensive care unit: A week’s long‐term recording of skin potentials

Abstract

To monitor the sleep-wake cycle of patients during their stay in the intensive care unit (ICU), we tried continuous and long-term recording of skin potential (SP) levels in patients after surgery. A graph of the week-long SP showed the sleep-wake pattern to be evident until the fourth day. It disappeared beginning on the fifth day, resulting finally in delirium with a relatively high mean SP level. In another record, the administration of sedative agents to calm the excitement lowered the mean SP level and suppressed SP responses evoked by frequent day and night treatment or nursing care. Continuous monitoring of arousal level by SP will be of help in prevention of ICU syndrome.

Use of ambulatory skin conductance recording for monitoring psychophysiological arousal in the elderly staying in care facilities

“…We have reported previously the long‐term skin potential recordings of patients in an intensive care unit, and this recording method proved to be effective for measuring arousal levels quantitatively 2 . In the present similar, preliminary study, while monitoring arousal levels in the elderly living in nursing facilities, the levels and fluctuations of SCC were found to correspond to the degrees of daily activity evaluated via the observation of the staff caregivers.…”

Evaluating adult patients’ sleep: an integrative literature review in critical care

“…Skin potential measurement is based on the voltage variations of skin. While asleep, levels are more negative than when awake . It can be used for differentiation between the patient being asleep or awake, but not for the detection of sleep stages .…”

Monitoring arousal in severely multiply handicapped people by continuously recording skin conductance

“…We previously measured skin potential (SP) for the monitoring of the sleep‐wake rhythm in patients during their stay in an intensive care unit, 1 as well as the SC for monitoring the arousal level of the elderly in care 2 . Their sleep‐wake rhythms were often disorganized, especiallly in cases of delirium or bedridden elderly patients.…”