Introduction: People living with dementia in care homes often have sleep disturbances, but little is known about incidence and importance.
Methods: We interviewed 1483 participants in 97 care homes and report prevalence, 1-year incidence, and baseline associations of clinically significant sleep disturbance in people with dementia.
Results: Baseline prevalence of clinically significant sleep disturbance was 13.7% (200/1460); 31.3% (457/1462) had them at least once over 16 months. One-year incidence was 25.2%. At baseline, residents with sleep disturbance had lower quality of life (mean difference -4.84; 95% confidence interval [CI] -6.53 to -3.16) and were more frequently prescribed sleep medications (odds ratio 1.75; CI 1.17 to 2.61) than other residents.
Discussion: Approximately one-third of care home residents with dementia have or develop sleep disturbances over 1 year. These are associated with lower quality of life and prescription of sedatives, which may have negative outcomes; therefore, it is important to develop effective treatments.
Keywords: associates; care homes; dementia; incidence; prevalence; sleep disturbances.
© 2022 The Authors. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring published by Wiley Periodicals, LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.