Factors associated with insomnia among post-acute traumatic brain injury survivors

This study investigated the relationships between insomnia and select demographic, injury and psychosocial variables in post-acute, traumatic brain injury. Clinical assessment of sleep and mood was undertaken via objective measures and a diagnostic interview among 91 consecutive brain injury admissions to an outpatient neurorehabilitation clinic. No associations between insomnia and gender, education, age, and time since injury were found. A logistic regression model of insomnia prediction based upon the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), self-reported pain disturbance, litigation and Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) correctly classified 87% of the sample with respect to the presence or absence of insomnia; however, depression and injury severity were the only variables that made a significant unique contribution to the prediction of insomnia. It is concluded that among post-acute traumatic brain injury patients, insomnia is linked with both the presence of depression and a history of milder brain injuries. This suggests that the determinants of insomnia may differ from the acute to the post-acute phase, with neurological factors playing a primary role early in the recovery process and psychosocial factors ascending later. Therefore, assessment and treatment of insomnia must give careful attention to the larger psychosocial context in which the sleep disorder emerges, particularly to role of emotional disturbance.