Summary: Sleep continuity, in addition to sleep quality, can determine how a person with dementia will experience their symptoms the next day.
Source: University of Sussex
Not only does how well people with dementia sleep affect their symptoms the following day, but of particular significance is their sleep continuity, or the extent which they can stay asleep after initially falling asleep, according to a new study by Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS), the University of Surrey and University of Sussex.
Dr Sara Balouch, former Dementia Research Fellow from the Centre for Dementia Studies at BSMS and lead author of the paper, said: “Our research shows that night-to-night variations in sleep predict day-to-day variations in symptoms of dementia, more so than in people without cognitive impairment. We suggest that it may be possible to optimise time in bed and sleep continuity, to improve daytime symptoms in people living with dementia.”
Over a two-week period, researchers assessed sleep in people living with dementia and assessed their daytime cognition and dementia symptoms, such as everyday memory problems. Sleep was assessed both by self-report and objectively by activity monitors placed on the wrist, for this two-week period.
Researchers not only asked the people living with dementia about their sleep but also asked their partners/caregivers to comment on their daily patterns of behaviour.
Detailed analyses of the sleep data indicated that sleep continuity was among the most predictive aspects of next day symptoms. Sleep continuity refers to the extent which one can stay asleep after initially falling asleep. When we spend too much time in bed, however, sleep continuity actually decreases.
It was found that increased sleep continuity was related to feeling more alert, fewer everyday memory errors and fewer carer reported memory and behavioural problems.
However, it was also related to reduced ability to conduct a subtraction task the next morning, which the researchers believe might have something to do with sleep inertia (a state of impaired cognitive performance immediately following sleep).
One interpretation of these results is that there is an optimal time in bed such that sleep is sufficiently long and continuous. This interpretation can be tested in interventional studies in which for each person living with dementia the optimal time in bed is assessed and implemented.
Funding: The research was supported by the Centre for Dementia Studies, BSMS, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and the UK-Dementia Research Institute.
About this dementia and sleep research news
Author: Stephanie Allen
Source: University of Sussex
Contact: Stephanie Allen – University of Sussex
Image: The image is in the public domain
Original Research: Closed access.
“Night-to-night variation in sleep associates with day-to-day variation in vigilance, cognition, memory, and behavioral problems in Alzheimer’s disease” by Sara Balouch et al. Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring
Abstract
Night-to-night variation in sleep associates with day-to-day variation in vigilance, cognition, memory, and behavioral problems in Alzheimer’s disease
Introduction
Sleep disturbances are commonly reported in people living with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but it is currently unknown whether night-to-night variation in sleep predicts day-to-day variation in vigilance, cognition, mood, and behavior (daytime measures).
Methods
Subjective and objective sleep and daytime measures were collected daily for 2 weeks in 15 participants with mild AD, eight participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 22 participants with no cognitive impairment (NCI). Associations between daytime measures and four principal components of sleep (duration, quality, continuity, and latency) were quantified using mixed-model regression.
Results
Sleepiness, alertness, contentedness, everyday memory errors, serial subtraction, and behavioral problems were predicted by at least one of the components of sleep, and in particular sleep duration and continuity. Associations between variations in sleep and daytime measures were linear or quadratic and often different between participants with AD and those with NCI.
Discussion
These findings imply that daytime functioning in people with AD may be improved by interventions that target sleep continuity.
