Abstract
Background
Sleep problems affect 30% to 80% of patients with mild traumatic brain injury. We
assessed the prevalence of sleep disorders after mild traumatic brain injury and its
correlation with other symptoms.
Methods and Materials
Individuals with mild traumatic brain injury were assessed at the New York University
Concussion Center during 2013-2014 with the Sports Concussion Assessment Tool, third
edition, data following mild traumatic brain injury. The relationship between sleep
problems (drowsiness, difficulty falling asleep, fatigue or low energy), psychiatric
symptoms (sadness, nervousness or anxiousness), headache, and dizziness were analyzed
by Spearman correlation and logistic regression using moderate to severe versus none
to mild categorization.
Results
Ninety-three patients were retrospectively considered. The most common injury causes
were falls (34.4%) and motor vehicle accidents (21.5%). There was a positive correlation
between dizziness, headache, psychiatric problems (sadness, anxiety, irritability),
and sleep problems (fatigue, drowsiness, and difficulty falling asleep) (P < 0.001). Logistic regression showed a significant association between moderate to
severe psychiatric symptoms and moderate to severe sleep symptoms (P < 0.05). Sleep symptoms became more severe with increased time interval from mild
traumatic brain injury to Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 3 administration (odds
ratio = 1.005, 1.006, and 1.008, P < 0.05). There was significant correlation between motor vehicle accident and drowsiness
and difficulty falling asleep (P < 0.05). Medications given in the emergency department had a positive correlation
with drowsiness (P < 0.05).
Conclusions
Individuals who report moderate to severe headache, dizziness, and psychiatric symptoms
have a higher likelihood of reporting moderate to severe sleep disorders following
mild traumatic brain injury and should be counseled and initiated with early interventions.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 28, 2015
Accepted:
December 21,
2015
Received:
September 22,
2015
Footnotes
Drs. Tkachenko and Singh contributed equally and are co-first authors.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
