Ambient Stimuli Perpetuate Nighttime Sleep Disturbances in Hospital Patients With TBI.

Background and objectives: The effect of the ambient environment, sound, light, and movement, on the nighttime rest-activity of patients hospitalized with moderate-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to examine how sound, light, and movement in these patients' hospital rooms may contribute to nighttime awakenings.

Methods: An observational design was used with 18 adult participants on a neuroscience step-down unit diagnosed with moderate-severe TBI. For up to five consecutive nights, actigraphy was used to capture nighttime awakenings while a custom-made multisensory device captured sound, light, and movement exposures in the participant's room.

Results: Participants were awake for 24% (or about 3 hr) of the time during the designated nighttime period of 8 pm to 8 am. Average nighttime exposures of sound was 52 dB, light was nine lumens, and movement, measured as a proportion, was 0.28% or 28%. With each stimuli exposure set at its average, there was a 20% probability of participant nighttime awakenings. Clinically meaningful reductions of movement in and out the participant's room and elevated sound significantly decreases the participant's probability of nighttime awakenings (p < .05), but reductions in light did not.

Conclusion: The ambient environment seems to impede restful sleep in immediate post-injury phase of patients with moderate-severe TBI.