Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
West J Nurs Res. 2023 Aug;45(8):688-695. doi: 10.1177/01939459231175242. Epub 2023 May 10.
Sleep disturbance is prevalent among caregivers of people living with dementia. However, gaps exist about caregivers' sleep patterns before and during their caregiving trajectory. This exploratory secondary analysis using a qualitative descriptive approach aimed to (1) identify and describe current caregivers' patterns of change in sleep before and during caregiving, and (2) understand caregivers' perceptions of their current sleep compared to their pre-caregiving sleep. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 19 caregivers taking part in a larger randomized controlled trial. Participants were female (n = 11), white (n = 13) and on average 63 years of age. Interview questions focused on caregivers' sleep patterns. The interviews were audio-recorded using a videoconferencing platform and ranged from 20 to 45 minutes. We conducted thematic analysis of the interview transcripts. Three distinct caregiver-sleep profiles emerged from the qualitative data: . Caregivers whose sleep was categorized as reported a difference when comparing their current sleep pattern to their pre-caregiving sleep pattern. This was usually a change from good to poor sleep. Caregivers whose sleep was had poor sleep pre-caregiving and continued to have poor sleep during caregiving. Caregivers also reported being with their current sleep pattern, defined in terms of distress and impairment. These three subtypes highlight the heterogeneity of caregivers' sleep experiences and debut a useful clinical framework with which to identify, categorize, and target caregivers at risk for sleep disturbance, many who may be ready to engage in behaviors to improve their sleep. Knowing caregivers' sleep profiles will enable health care providers and researchers to determine caregivers' needs and readiness for interventions then work collaboratively with them to improve their sleep problems.
睡眠障碍在照顾痴呆症患者的照护者中很常见。然而，关于照护者在开始照顾之前和期间的睡眠模式，仍存在一些差距。本探索性二次分析采用定性描述方法，旨在：(1) 确定和描述当前照护者在开始照顾之前和期间睡眠模式的变化，并(2) 了解照护者对当前睡眠与开始照顾前睡眠的看法。我们对 19 名参加更大规模随机对照试验的照护者进行了半结构式访谈。参与者为女性(n = 11)、白人(n = 13)，平均年龄为 63 岁。访谈问题侧重于照护者的睡眠模式。访谈使用视频会议平台进行录音，时间从 20 分钟到 45 分钟不等。我们对访谈记录进行了主题分析。从定性数据中得出了三个不同的照护者-睡眠特征：1. 报告当前睡眠模式与开始照顾前睡眠模式有差异的照护者。这通常是从良好的睡眠变为较差的睡眠。2. 开始照顾前睡眠就较差的照护者在开始照顾后仍保持较差的睡眠。3. 照护者还报告说对当前的睡眠模式感到满意，这是指在苦恼和受损方面。这三个亚型突出了照护者睡眠体验的异质性，并首次提出了一个有用的临床框架，用于识别、分类和针对有睡眠障碍风险的照护者，其中许多人可能已经准备好采取改善睡眠的行为。了解照护者的睡眠特征将使医疗保健提供者和研究人员能够确定照护者的需求和对干预措施的准备情况，然后与他们合作改善他们的睡眠问题。
