Sleep disruption and quality of life in persons with dementia: A state-of-the-art review.
Darina V Petrovsky, Miranda Varrasse McPhillips, Junxin Li and 3 others
PMID 29803606WHAT IT FOUND
In older adults with dementia, poor sleep was linked to worse physical function, more behavioral symptoms, more depression and apathy, and worse cognition.
Sleep assessment may help clinicians understand quality-of-life problems.
Key findings
01Based on six included studies, sleep disruption was negatively associated with physical function, social/behavioral function, emotional well-being, and cognitive function in persons with dementia.
02In 344 older adults with Alzheimer's disease, moderate and severe sleep disruptions were associated with less independent self-care skills.
03In 151 community-dwelling older adults with dementia, having any sleep disorder was associated with depression and anxiety.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The review included only six studies, and the studies used small, convenience samples from homes, nursing homes, and memory clinics. The studies used different sleep measures, varied participant ages, and did not control for many confounders such as comorbidity, medications, and pain. Most designs were cross-sectional, so they cannot show that poor sleep caused worse quality of life. Sleep was often reported by caregivers, whose own stress and health may have biased ratings of the person with dementia. The review could not compare the size of effects across quality-of-life domains because measures and samples differed.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these associations as proof that improving sleep will improve quality of life. The review synthesized cross-sectional studies of people with dementia and could not establish cause or effect magnitude.