Evidence shows that sleep deprivation leads to decreased cognition. In patients with dementia (AD), decreased cognition intensifies, creating a need for assistance with performance of activities of daily living (ADL). This study’s purpose was to examine the effect of sleep enhancement on the cognitive level of institutionalized elderly patients with AD and with sleep disorders. The theoretical framework guiding this study was Henderson’s, where health is defined as one’s ability to independently meet 14 psychological and physiological components (ADL’s). A convenience sample of elderly institutionalized subjects, suffering from sleep disorders and decreased cognition, was selected for this quasiexperiment. That patients with impaired cognition and with sleep disorders may have higher Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) scores after receiving sleep enhancement than when they do not receive sleep enhancement was the tested hypothesis. A second hypothesis tested was that sleep enhancement increases the quality of sleep. The MMSE was utilized to measure cognition, Mini-Motion loggers (MML) measured sleep quality and Zolpidem 5mg. was administered orally before bed to enhance sleep. Subjects were tested before wearing the MML, after wearing the MML for 5 days, and again after wearing the MML while taking Zolpidem 5 mg. for 5 nights. Paired sample t-test showed that Zolpidem increases both quality of sleep and level of cognition in the institutionalized patient with AD.
Session #1223 - Graduate Student Poster Session
The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)