Impact of Alzheimer disease patients' sleep disturbances on their caregivers.
Philip Gehrman, Nalaka S Gooneratne, Glenna S Brewster and 2 others
PMID 28684102WHAT IT FOUND
Caregiver-reported sleep symptoms did not predict caregiver quality of life after burden, health and depression were considered.
Nocturnal awakenings, wandering, snoring and daytime sleepiness were associated with caregiver burden.
Key findings
01Caregivers reported that 60% of care recipients had at least one sleep disturbance symptom.
02Nocturnal awakenings, nocturnal wandering, snoring and daytime sleepiness were significantly associated with caregiver burden after multiple-comparison correction.
03In the multivariate model, sleep disturbance symptoms did not predict caregiver quality of life.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Sleep symptoms were reported by caregivers rather than measured objectively, and caregivers may miss nocturnal events or sleep through them. The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that sleep symptoms caused caregiver burden or quality of life outcomes, and survivorship effects may weaken associations. The sample came from a university memory center, and most care recipients had mild to moderate cognitive impairment, so findings may not apply to severe dementia or other settings. Quality of life and assistance with basic and instrumental activities of daily living were assessed with single items rather than validated full measures. Stepwise regression was used, which can inflate explained variance when predictors are correlated. 73 of 203 initial pairs were excluded because the respondent was not the primary caregiver or did not live with the care recipient.
Declared interests
The supplied text does not include an author conflicts statement or funding declaration; the publication metadata indicates NIH extramural research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that treating sleep symptoms in people with Alzheimer disease will reduce caregiver burden or improve caregiver quality of life. The study was cross-sectional and used caregiver reports, so it showed associations at one time, not cause and effect. Sleep symptoms also did not predict caregiver quality of life after burden, health and depression were included.