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Sleepiness, sleep time, and depression of caregivers are linked with sleep and behaviors of their paired partners with dementia

  • 0Department of Neurology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
Journal of Alzheimer's Disease Reports +

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March 4, 2025

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March 4, 2025

View abstract on PubMed

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) experience poorer sleep than their partners. Increased caregiver burden and AD symptoms worsen caregiver sleep onset latency, highlighting a link between caregiver well-being and sleep quality.

Area Of Science

  • Neuroscience
  • Gerontology
  • Sleep Medicine

Background

  • Sleep disturbances are common in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and their caregivers (CGs).
  • Poor sleep in CGs may increase their risk of developing AD.
  • The relationship between sleep in people with dementia (PWD) and their CGs is not well understood.

Purpose Of The Study

  • To examine sleep patterns in PWD and CG dyads.
  • To investigate the relationship between PWD sleep and CG sleep, cognition, and burden.
  • To explore factors linking disordered sleep, dementia severity, PWD behaviors to CG sleep difficulties and burden.

Main Methods

  • Utilized overnight polysomnography (PSG) and 14-day actigraphy to assess sleep in PWD/CG dyads.
  • Administered Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), behavioral, mood, and CG burden assessments.
  • Included participants from the Virginia Alzheimer's Disease Center Clinical Cohort.

Main Results

  • Actigraphy showed no difference in mean activity between dyad members.
  • Caregivers exhibited significantly decreased total sleep time (TST) and greater sleep onset latency (SOL) compared to PWD.
  • PWD neuropsychiatric symptoms and CG burden correlated with worse CG SOL.

Conclusions

  • Chronic rest and activity are linked within PWD/CG dyads.
  • CGs experience shorter TST, lower sleep efficiency (SEff), and longer SOL than PWD when separated.
  • Neuropsychiatric symptoms and CG burden are associated with poorer CG sleep quality.

Keywords:

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