A Systematic Review of Risk Factors for Sleep Disruption in Critically Ill Adults

Numerous risk factors for sleep disruption in critically ill adults have been described. We performed a systematic review of all risk factors associated with sleep disruption in the ICU setting.

PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register for Controlled Trials, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

English-language studies of any design published between 1990 and April 2018 that evaluated sleep in greater than or equal to 10 critically ill adults (> 18 yr old) and investigated greater than or equal to 1 potential risk factor for sleep disruption during ICU stay. We assessed study quality using Newcastle-Ottawa Scale or Cochrane Risk of Bias tool.

We abstracted all data independently and in duplicate. Potential ICU sleep disruption risk factors were categorized into three categories based on how data were reported: 1) patient-reported reasons for sleep disruption, 2) patient-reported ratings of potential factors affecting sleep quality, and 3) studies reporting a statistical or temporal association between potential risk factors and disrupted sleep.

Of 5,148 citations, we included 62 studies. Pain, discomfort, anxiety/fear, noise, light, and ICU care-related activities are the most common and widely studied patient-reported factors causing sleep disruption. Patients rated noise and light as the most sleep-disruptive factors. Higher number of comorbidities, poor home sleep quality, home sleep aid use, and delirium were factors associated with sleep disruption identified in available studies.

This systematic review summarizes all premorbid, illness-related, and ICU-related factors associated with sleep disruption in the ICU. These findings will inform sleep promotion efforts in the ICU and guide further research in this field.