Sleep quality among patients treated with implantable atrial defibrillation therapy: effect of nocturnal shock delivery and psychological distress.

Introduction: The Medtronic ICD-AT has atrial/ventricular therapies, which can be programmed to deliver atrial defibrillation during sleep, intended to potentially decrease shock anxiety/pain and lifestyle disruption. However, these shocks may diminish sleep quality. This study examined atrial shock characteristics (i.e., mode, frequency), AF symptoms, and psychological factors as determinants of sleep quality.

Methods And Results: The 96 ICD-AT patients were mostly men (72%; M age 65 +/- 12 years) and implanted for 1.6 years (SD = 0.8 years). Patients were divided into shock groups based on the proportion of mode (> or =90%) of total atrial shocks received. Patients were grouped into either automatic-nocturnal shock group (8 P.M.-8 A.M.; n = 35) or manual-awake shock group (n = 42). Psychological measures included Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Center for Epidemiology Studies-Depression Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Illness Intrusiveness Rating Scale. Atrial fibrillation disease burden was assessed via atrial symptom score and atrial shock use. PSQI global scores were similar between manual (7.67 +/- 2.53) and automatic shock (8.20 +/- 2.93) groups. A multiple hierarchical regression analysis indicated that no atrial shock variables were predictive of sleep quality; yet, both AF symptom (B = 0.226, P = 0.040) and depression (B = 0.392, P = 0.034) scores predicted diminished sleep quality, accounting for 42% of the variance in global sleep quality (P < 0.001).

Conclusion: These results suggest that atrial defibrillation therapy does not have a deleterious impact on sleep. However, the significance of AF symptoms and depression indicate that comprehensive care of both physical and psychological symptomatology may improve sleep quality in ICD-AT patients.