Feasibility study of unattended polysomnography in medical intensive care unit patients

Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility of using unattended, portable polysomnography (PSG) to measure sleep among patients in the medical intensive care unit (MICU).

Background: Accurate measurement of sleep is critical to studies of MICU sleep deprivation. Although PSG is the gold standard, there is limited data regarding the feasibility of utilizing unattended, portable PSG modalities in the MICU.

Methods: MICU based observational pilot study. We conducted unattended, 24-h PSG studies in 29 patients. Indicators of feasibility included attainment of electroencephalography data sufficient to determine sleep stage, sleep efficiency, and arousal indices.

Results: Electroencephalography data were not affected by electrical interference and were of interpretable quality in 27/29 (93%) of patients. Overnight sleep efficiency was 48% reflecting a mean overnight sleep duration of 3.7 h.

Conclusions: Unattended, portable PSG produces high quality sleep data in the MICU and can facilitate investigation of sleep deprivation among critically ill patients. Patient sleep was short and highly fragmented.