Daytime activity and sleep are associated with motor function in older intensive care unit survivors.
Maya N Elías, Cindy L Munro, Zhan Liang
PMID 33637322WHAT IT FOUND
Older ICU survivors with less daytime activity had weaker grip and slower pegboard dexterity; more daytime sleep/rest was also linked to worse grip and dexterity.
These are associations, not proof that changing activity or sleep improves function.
Key findings
01Lower daytime activity was associated with worse grip strength and slower dexterity.
02Greater daytime sleep/rest time was associated with worse grip strength and slower dexterity.
03Mean 24-hour activity was 39.7 counts/min and mean daytime sleep/rest was 7.6 hours.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was small, with 30 enrolled, and 1 participant did not complete full actigraphy while 3 could not complete at least one motor assessment. The design was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that activity or sleep caused motor impairment. The actigraphy observation was short, covering two nighttime periods and one daytime period. Delirium was not included as a covariate because clinical documentation was unreliable. Opioids or benzodiazepines may have affected activity and sleep; about one-fourth received more than two doses during observation. Actigraphy can overestimate sleep/rest time. The sample was mostly male and White and non-Hispanic/Latino, limiting generalizability.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the associations as proof that increasing daytime activity or reducing daytime sleep/rest will improve grip strength or dexterity. The study was cross-sectional and cannot show cause, and surgery, opioids, benzodiazepines, and delirium may have affected activity and sleep.