Do sleep difficulties exacerbate deficits in sustained attention following traumatic brain injury?

Bloomfield, I.L.M., Espie, C.A. and Evans, J.J. (2010) Do sleep difficulties exacerbate deficits in sustained attention following traumatic brain injury? Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 16(1), pp. 17-25. (doi: 10.1017/S1355617709990798)

Abstract

Sustained attention has been shown to be vulnerable following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Sleep restriction and disturbances have been shown to negatively affect sustained attention. Sleep disorders are common but under-diagnosed after TBI. Thus, it seems possible that sleep disturbances may exacerbate neuropsychological deficits for a proportion of individuals who have sustained a TBI. The aim of this prospective study was to examine whether poor sleepers post-TBI had poorer sustained and general attentional functioning than good sleepers post-TBI. Retrospective subjective, prospective subjective, and objective measures were used to assess participants’ sleep. The results showed that the poor sleep group had significantly poorer sustained attention ability than the good sleep group. The differences on other measures of attention were not significant. This study supports the use of measures that capture specific components of attention rather than global measures of attention, and highlights the importance of assessing and treating sleep problems in brain injury rehabilitation.

• Item Type: Articles
• Keywords: Arousal, cognition, neuropsychological tests, frontal lobe, closed head injury, sleep initiation and maintenance disorders
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Espie, Professor Colin and Evans, Professor Jonathan
• Authors: Bloomfield, I.L.M., Espie, C.A., and Evans, J.J.
• Subjects: R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Mental Health and Wellbeing; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Psychology & Neuroscience
• Journal Name: Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• ISSN: 1355-6177
• ISSN (Online): 1469-7661
• Published Online: 02 October 2009
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2009 The International Neuropsychological Society
• First Published: First published in Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society 16(1):17-25
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher