Sleep Quality Should Be Assessed in Inpatient Rehabilitation Settings: A Preliminary Study

This study assessed sleep quality changes during an inpatient rehabilitation stay and related these changes to patient characteristics. The study found that most patients had poor sleep at both admission and discharge. Interestingly, patients with diagnosed sleep disorders showed improved sleep quality during their stay, possibly due to the care they received for these disorders. The sleep of patients without such disorders did not improve. The study also measured nighttime sound levels and sleep disturbances in the rehabilitation setting, finding high noise levels that may contribute to poor sleep quality.

• 1
  Most patients had poor sleep quality at admission (86%) and discharge (80%) as measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI).
• 2
  A significant interaction was observed between changes in total PSQI scores and diagnosed sleep disorders, indicating that patients with diagnosed sleep disorders experienced an improvement in sleep quality during their hospital stay.
• 3
  Nighttime sound levels in the inpatient rehabilitation setting were high, with mean averages and peaks of 62.3 ± 5.1 dB and 86.1 ± 4.9 dB, respectively, potentially contributing to sleep disturbances.