Background: Good sleep quantity and quality are essential for patient recovery while in the intensive care unit (ICU). Patients commonly report poor sleep while in the ICU, and therefore, identifying the modifiable factors that patients perceive as impacting their sleep is important to improve sleep and recovery. This study also assessed night-time light and sound levels in an ICU in an effort to find modifiable factors. Methods: A total of 137 patients (51F) aged 58.1 ± 16.8 years completed a survey including questions about their sleep before and during their ICU stay, factors contributing to poor sleep in the ICU, and perceived factors that may have improved their sleep in the ICU. Night-time light and sound levels were measured in patient rooms and nurses' stations. Results: Patients reported poorer sleep quantity and quality while in the ICU compared to home. Among the most common reasons for poor sleep, easily modifiable factors included noise (50.4%) and lights (45.3%), potentially modifiable factors included pain (46.7%), and non-modifiable factors included IV lines (42.3%). Patients felt their sleep would have been improved with interventions such as dimming lights (58.4%) and closing doors/blinds at night (42.3%), as well as potentially implementable interventions such as a sleeping pill (51.8%). Overnight sound levels in bedrooms were above the recommended levels (40 dB) and light levels averaged over 100 lux. Conclusions: Sleep quality and quantity were both worse in ICU than at home. Modifiable factors such as sound and light are common factors that patients perceive impact their sleep in the ICU. Readily implementable sleep management strategies aimed at minimizing the impacts of sound and light levels in the ICU are ways to improve patients' sleep in the ICU.
Keywords: circadian rhythm; critical care; environment; hospitalization; sleep quality.