Sleep disturbances are highly prevalent in heart failure patients but are not predicted by traditional clinical or physiological variables, highlighting the need for routine clinical assessment.
HF patients warrant direct sleep assessment beyond clinical status; cross-sectional data leaves open causal links and intervention effects.
Sleep disturbances have a major impact on physical functioning, emotional well-being, and quality of life, but are not well described in patients with heart failure (HF). Eighty-four HF patients completed a sleep survey and provided demographic and clinical data. Seventy percent of the patients were male with a mean age of 54 years and a mean left ventricular ejection fraction of 22%. Forty-seven patients (56%) reported trouble sleeping and one-third used sleeping medication. The most frequently reported problems were inability to sleep flat (51%), restless sleep (44%), trouble falling asleep (40%), and awakening early (39%). Using logistic regression, physiological variables were tested as predictors of sleep disturbance. Severity of HF, age, gender, etiology, obesity, smoking, and use of beta-blockers were not predictors of sleep disturbance. HF patients experience significant sleep disturbances, which are not predicted by severity of symptoms or clinical status. Problems with sleep are an important component of a clinical assessment in this vulnerable population.
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Erickson et al. (2003) studied this question.
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