Sleep Quality and Insomnia Complaint in Stroke

*Corresponding author e-mail: pcr_fisio@yahoo.com.br Introduction: The presence of a brain injury can lead to appearance of changes in sleep-wake. However, have not been identified the complaints of sleep disorders and their relationship with the quality of sleep, besides what mechanism of regulation of sleep may be affected after a stroke. The aim of this study was to investigate the quality of sleep, complaints of sleep disorders and associated factors in stroke patients from the Physical Therapy services in Natal-RN. Methods: A transversal study was developed with a sample of 70 subjects, 40 patients (57 ± 7 years), 11 ± 9 months after injury, and 30 healthy subjects (52 ± 6 years), evaluated with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Sleep Habits Questionnaire. The data were analyzed by Chi-square test, t’Student test and logistic regression analysis. Results: The patients showed on average poor quality of sleep (patients: 6,3 ± 3,5; healthy subjects: 3,9 ± 2,2; p=0,002), increased sleep latency (p=0,019), greater length of sleep (p=0,039) and more dysfunction during the day (p=0,001), i.e. more daytime sleepiness. Regarding complaints of sleep disorders (dyssomnias and parasomnias), the complaint of insomnia was the most prevalent (patients: 37,5%; healthy subjects: 6,7%; p=0,007). By regression analysis, the latency and complaint of insomnia were the predictors of the quality of sleep ( OR = 0,120; p= 0,036). In addition, the female gender ( OR = 11,098; p= 0,036) and the complaint of broken sleep ( OR = 32,040; p= 0,003) were considered risk factors for the complaint of insomnia. Conclusion: Through these found results, it was suggested that stroke can affect the homeostatic process of regulation of sleep, with the lowest latency and the absence of the complaint of insomnia considered protection factors to the quality of sleep. We suggest that poor sleep quality and insomnia be given priority assessment during clinical diagnosis. Publication History Article published online: 16 June 2026 © 2009. Brazilian Sleep Academy. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) Thieme Revinter Publicações Ltda. Rua Rego Freitas, 175, loja 1, República, São Paulo, SP, CEP 01220-010, Brazil