Caregiver outcomes related to sleep disturbances in persons living with cognitive impairment.
Miranda V McPhillips, Erin Donnelly, Fanghong Dong and 6 others
PMID 41576571WHAT IT FOUND
Caregivers of people with cognitive impairment had more depression when they reported poorer sleep quality in the person they cared for.
Reported sleep-related impairment was linked to worse mastery, and less daytime sleepiness to more burden.
Key findings
01A one-point increase in caregiver-reported PSQI sleep quality score (higher is poorer sleep) was associated with a 0.39-point increase in caregiver CES-D depression score (higher is more depression; p = 0.03).
02A one-point increase in caregiver-reported PROMIS sleep-related impairment score (higher is more impairment) was associated with a 0.10-point increase in caregiver mastery score (higher is worse mastery; p = 0.004).
03A one-point decrease in caregiver-reported Epworth daytime sleepiness score (higher is more sleepiness) was associated with a 0.16-point increase in caregiver burden score (higher is more burden; p = 0.04).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that poor sleep caused caregiver depression, worse mastery or burden. Sleep measures were caregiver reports, so they may reflect the caregiver's own distress or perception rather than the older adult's actual sleep. The objective sleep measurement was only three days and was scored using an investigator-developed protocol. Analyses did not adjust for multiple comparisons, increasing the chance that some significant associations were false positives. The sample was mostly mild to moderate cognitive impairment, so findings may not apply to caregivers of people with severe dementia. Caffeine, alcohol use and physical activity were not controlled for, although they can affect sleep. Participants were convenience sampled from a trial, and caregiver health status was only measured while they were caregiving.
Declared interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that improving the older adult's sleep will reduce caregiver depression or burden. This was a cross-sectional association, the key sleep measures were caregiver-reported, and objective sleep measures were not significantly linked to caregiver outcomes.