Sleep disturbance in women before myocardial infarction.

Objective: The study objective was to describe the prevalence and correlates of sleep disturbances among women who retrospectively reported sleep disturbance before their myocardial infarction (MI). MI is frequently unrecognized in women because they may have only vague symptoms, such as sleep disturbance. Describing correlates of sleep disturbance before MI may assist in recognizing women at risk for coronary heart disease.

Exercise and social activity improve everyday function in long-term care residents.

Objectives: This study examined the effects of high-intensity resistance strength training and walking (E), individualized social activity (SA), and resistance training and walking combined with social activity (ESA) on everyday function in long-term care (LTC) residents and explored the relationship between change in everyday function and change in sleep.

Design: The study used data from The Effect of Activities and Exercise on Sleep, a randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Residential LTC facilities.

Measurement of reaction time in the home for people with dementia: a feasibility study.

Background: Cognitive decline is the cardinal symptom of dementia. Accurate measurement of changes in cognition, while essential for testing interventions to slow cognitive decline, can be challenging in people with dementia (PWD). For example, the laboratory environment may cause anxiety and negatively affect performance.

Relationships among disordered sleep and cognitive and functional status in nursing home residents.

This descriptive study examined relationships among disordered sleep and cognitive and functional status in nursing home residents (N = 90). Baseline data were used from a randomized controlled clinical trial that took place in three nursing homes. The sample included individuals age 55 and older with disordered sleep and cognitive impairment.

The costs of recruiting: reflections of bean counter.

Although information on the costs of participant recruitment for large-scale clinical trials has been published, the information may not be applicable to small feasibility studies. To determine the most effective recruitment strategy for a feasibility study that sought to adapt laboratory measurement of simple reaction times of individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) to the home, we adapted a metric developed by Chin Feman et al. We recruited individuals with mild to moderate dementia from (a) enrollees in a Memory Research Center, (b) AD support groups, (c) the senior clinic at our university, and (d) senior citizen housing units.

Tone-induced sleep fragmentation in persons with Alzheimer's disease: a feasibility study.

Sleep fragmentation increases as Alzheimer's disease (AD) progresses. Its effects on cognition, specifically vigilant attention, are profoundly important because vigilant attention is thought to be the first step in memory acquisition. To our knowledge, no one has experimentally studied the effect of sleep fragmentation on vigilant attention in persons with AD.

Periodic leg movements predict total sleep time in persons with cognitive impairment and sleep disturbance.

Study Objective: To determine if periodic leg movements predict total sleep time at night in elders with cognitive impairment and sleep disturbance.

Design: Descriptive cross-sectional secondary analysis using data from an observational study and baseline data from a randomized, controlled clinical trial.

Settings: Private homes, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities.

Nursing home residents' sense of coherence and functional status decline.

Functional status decline places an enormous burden on health care services and strategies to identify at risk subgroups are needed. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between sense of coherence (SOC) and functional status to determine if SOC can be used to identify at-risk subgroups. In a convenience sample (N = 65) of nursing home residents measures of functional status and SOC were compared at 2 times.

Assessment of attention in Alzheimer's disease.

Intact memory is critical to maintaining cognitive vitality and independent functional status, and impaired memory is a major risk factor for nursing home admission. It is essential that all people who work with elders in any setting (community, acute care hospital, or long-term care facility) identify early subtle changes in memory such as impaired attention and institute proper care in a timely manner. This article describes attention and how it is related to impaired memory.

Assessment and discharge planning for hospitalized older adults with delirium.

A description of the effects of delirium on attention is provided. Nursing implications pertinent to appropriate assessment for attention deficits, interventions to maintain patient safety, and discharge planning for the older adult with persistent delirium are also discussed.

Sleep in persons with dementia: Increasing quality of life by managing sleep disorders.

In individuals with dementia, sleep disruptions (e.g., increased number of nighttime awakenings after falling asleep, lower sleep efficiency, increased daytime napping, changes in the amount of rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep increase as the dementia increases in severity.

Sleep and cognition in people with Alzheimer's disease.

It is important that we identify factors that could lead to interventions to slow cognitive decline in people with Alzheimer's disease. One potentially modifiable factor in Alzheimer's disease is disturbed sleep. The effect of disturbed sleep on cognition is of profound importance in people with Alzheimer's disease because disturbed sleep may worsen memory complaints.