Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability for people in Canada. Beyond the initial brain injury, the sequelae of stroke may also include several comorbidities, with sleep disorders being ...among the most important. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and sleep--wake disturbances are highly prevalent among patients who have had a stroke; they may be both a risk factor for and a consequence of stroke, and can substantially affect stroke recovery and functional outcomes. Moreover, post-stroke fatigue is a top research priority for patients who have had a stroke. In related research, Jeffers and colleagues used cross-sectional data from the Canadian Community Health Survey to study relative rates of 4 self-reported sleep disturbances, namely having trouble staying awake, either short (< 5 h) or long (> 9 h) nightly sleep duration, having trouble going to or staying asleep, and having unrefreshing sleep. Almost two-thirds of respondents who reported a history of stroke also reported sleep difficulties; those with a history of stroke also reported each form of sleep disturbance significantly more frequently than those without a history a stroke.
Existing normal polysomnography values are not truly normative as they are based on small sample sizes due to the fact that polysomnography is expensive and burdensome to obtain. There is a clear ...need for a large sample of truly normative data for clinical management and research. This study is a comprehensive meta-analysis of adult polysomnography parameters scored using recent criteria and establishes normative values adjusted for age and sex.
For this meta-analysis of adult polysomnography parameters, we searched Scopus for studies of any design published between Jan 1, 2007, and July 31, 2016, that reported polysomnographic parameters scored using recent American Academy of Sleep Medicine criteria (2007 or 2012) collected during an overnight level 1 in-laboratory sleep study in healthy controls. We excluded studies of patients with conditions or subjected to treatments that might affect sleep and studies not available in English. Study endpoints were the pooled estimates of 14 reported polysomnographic parameters. Estimates for each parameter were pooled using a random-effects meta-analysis. The influence of age and sex was ascertained using multivariate mixed-effects meta-regressions. This study is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42017074319.
Of 3712 articles, 169 studies, comprising 5273 participants, were eligible for inclusion. We report normative data stratified by age and sex. For each decade of age, total sleep time decreased by 10·1 min (95% CI 7·5 to 12·8), sleep efficiency decreased by 2·1% (1·5 to 2·6), wake after sleep onset increased by 9·7 min (6·9 to 12·4), sleep onset latency increased by 1·1 min (0·3 to 1·9), arousal index increased by 2·1 events per h (1·5 to 2·6), percentage of N1 sleep increased by 0·5% (0·1 to 0·8), apnea-hypopnea index increased by 1·2 events per h (0·9 to 1·4), mean oxygen saturation decreased by 0·6% (0·5 to 0·7), minimum oxygen saturation decreased by 1·8% (1·3 to 2·3), and periodic limb movement index increased by 1·2 events per h (0·8 to 1·6). Changes with age in the percentage of N2 sleep (0·0%, 95% CI -0·1 to 0·1), N3 sleep (-0·1%, -0·1 to 0·0), and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep (0·0%, -0·1 to 0·0) were not significant. Every 10% increase in the percentage of male participants was associated with reduced REM latency (0·9 min decrease, 95% CI 0·1 to 1·6) and mean oxygen saturation (0·1% decrease, 0·0 to 0·1), and greater arousal index (0·3 events per h, 0·0 to 0·5) and apnea-hypopnea index (0·2 events per h, 0·1 to 0·3).
These normative values serve as a useful control reference for clinicians and for future research where it might be difficult to obtain polysomnographic controls. The resulting normative trends by age and sex might also be hypothesis-generating for a broad range of investigations.
None.
To systematically review the current evidence examining restless legs syndrome (RLS) and periodic limb movements in sleep (PLMS) as prognostic factors for all-cause mortality and incident ...cardiovascular events (CVE) in longitudinal studies published in the adult population.
All English language studies (from 1947 to 2016) found through Medline and Embase, as well as bibliographies of identified articles, were considered eligible. Quality was evaluated using published guidelines.
Among 18 cohorts (reported in 13 manuscripts), 15 evaluated the association between RLS and incident CVE and/or all-cause mortality and 3 between PLMS and CVE and mortality. The follow-up periods ranged from 2 to 20 years. A significant relationship between RLS and CVE was reported in four cohorts with a greater risk suggested for severe RLS with longer duration and secondary forms of RLS. Although a significant association between RLS and all-cause mortality was reported in three cohorts, a meta-analysis we conducted of the four studies of highest quality found no association (pooled hazard ratio = 1.09, 95% confidence interval: 0.80-1.78). A positive association between PLMS and CVE and/or mortality was demonstrated in all included studies with a greater risk attributed to PLMS with arousals.
The available evidence on RLS as a prognostic factor for incident CVE and all-cause mortality was limited and inconclusive; RLS duration, severity, and secondary manifestations may be important in understanding a possible relationship. Although very limited, the current evidence suggests that PLMS may be a prognostic factor for incident CVE and mortality.
To examine the association between the severity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and nocturnal hypoxemia with incident cancer.
This was a multicenter retrospective clinical cohort study using linked ...clinical and provincial health administrative data on consecutive adults who underwent a diagnostic sleep study between 1994 and 2017 in four academic hospitals (Canada) who were free of cancer at baseline. Cancer status was derived from the Ontario Cancer Registry. Cox cause-specific regressions were utilized to address the objective and to calculate the 10-year absolute risk difference (ARD) in the marginal probability of incident cancer and the number needed to harm (NNH).
Of 33,997 individuals considered, 33,711 with no missing OSA severity were included: median age, 50 years; 58% male; and 23% with severe OSA (apnea-hypopnea index >30). Of the 18,458 individuals with information on sleep time spent with oxygen saturation (SaO
) <90%, 5% spent >30% of sleep with SaO
<90% (severe nocturnal hypoxemia). Over a median of 7 years, 2,498 of 33,711 (7%) individuals developed cancer, with an incidence rate of 10.3 (10.0-10.8) per 1,000 person-years. Controlling for confounders, severe OSA was associated with a 15% increased hazard of developing cancer compared with no OSA (HR = 1.15, 1.02-1.30; ARD = 1.28%, 0.20-2.37; and NNH = 78). Severe hypoxemia was associated with about 30% increased hazard (HR = 1.32, 1.08-1.61; ARD = 2.38%, 0.47-4.31; and NNH = 42).
In a large cohort of individuals with suspected OSA free of cancer at baseline, the severity of OSA and nocturnal hypoxemia was independently associated with incident cancer.
These findings suggest the need for more targeted cancer risk awareness in individuals with OSA.
We present the first public dataset with videos of oro-facial gestures performed by individuals with oro-facial impairment due to neurological disorders, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) ...and stroke. Perceptual clinical scores from trained clinicians are provided as metadata. Manual annotation of facial landmarks is also provided for a subset of over 3300 frames. Through extensive experiments with multiple facial landmark detection algorithms, including state-of-the-art convolutional neural network (CNN) models, we demonstrated the presence of bias in the landmark localization accuracy of pre-trained face alignment approaches in our participant groups. The pre-trained models produced higher errors in the two clinical groups compared to age-matched healthy control subjects. We also investigated how this bias changes when the existing models are fine-tuned using data from the target population. The release of this dataset aims to propel the development of face alignment algorithms robust to the presence of oro-facial impairment, support the automatic analysis and recognition of oro-facial gestures, enhance the automatic identification of neurological diseases, as well as the estimation of disease severity from videos and images.
Objective
To analyze intervention goals, protocols, and outcome measures used for oral and pharyngeal motor exercises in post-stroke recovery.
Data sources
MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsychINFO, and ...Cochrane databases were searched in September 2022.
Methods
Studies were included if they (1) recruited post-stroke adult patients, (2) administered exercises for the oral and/ or pharyngeal muscles, and (3) reported results at baseline and post-exercise. The extracted data included intervention goals, protocols, and outcomes. All outcomes were classified according to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF).
Results
A total of 26 studies were identified. Their intervention goals aimed to rehabilitate a broad spectrum of muscle groups within the oral cavity and pharynx and to improve the functions of swallowing, speech, facial expressions, or sleep breathing. Protocol duration ranged from 1 to 13 weeks, with various exercise repetitions (times per day) and frequency (days per week). Half of the studies reported using feedback to support the training, and these studies varied in the feedback strategy and technology tool. A total of 37 unique outcome measures were identified. Most measures represented the body functions and body structure component of the ICF, and several of these measures showed large treatment effects.
Conclusions
This review demonstrated inconsistency across published studies in intervention goals and exercise protocols. It has also identified current limitations and provided recommendations for the selection of outcome measures while advancing a multidisciplinary view of oral and pharyngeal exercises in post-stroke recovery across relevant functions.
To characterize 1) the relationship between laxative use and objective sleep metrics, and 2) the relationship between laxative use and self-reported insomnia symptoms in a convenience sample of ...middle-aged/elderly patients who completed in-laboratory polysomnography.
We cross-sectionally analyzed first-night diagnostic in-laboratory polysomnography data for 2946 patients over the age of 40 (mean age 60.5 years; 48.3% male). Laxative use and medical comorbidities were obtained through self-reported questionnaires. Patient insomnia symptoms were based on self-report. Associations between laxative use and objective sleep continuity were analyzed using multivariable linear regression models. Associations between laxative use and insomnia were assessed using multivariable logistic regression models.
After adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, total recording time, and relevant comorbidities, laxative users had a 7.1% lower sleep efficiency (
< 0.001), 25.5-minute higher wake after sleep onset (
< 0.001), and a 29.4-minute lower total sleep time (
< 0.001) than patients not using laxatives. Laxative users were found to be at greater odds of reporting insomnia symptoms (OR = 1.7,
= 0.024) than patients not using laxatives.
Laxative use is associated with impairments in objective sleep continuity. Patients using laxatives were also at greater odds of reporting insomnia symptoms.
Few randomized controlled trials have evaluated the effectiveness of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in reducing recurrent vascular events and mortality in poststroke obstructive sleep ...apnea (OSA). To date, results have been mixed, most studies were underpowered and definitive conclusions are not available. Using lessons learned from prior negative trials in stroke, we reappraise prior randomized controlled trials that examined the use of CPAP in treating poststroke OSA and propose the following considerations: (1) Intervention-based changes, such as ensuring that patients are using CPAP for at least 4 hours per night (eg, through use of improvements in CPAP technology that make it easier for patients to use), as well as considering alternative treatment strategies for poststroke OSA; (2) Population-based changes (ie, including stroke patients with severe and symptomatic OSA and CPAP noncompliers); and (3) Changes to timing of intervention and follow-up (ie, early initiation of CPAP therapy within the first 48 hours of stroke and long-term follow-up calculated in accordance with sample size to ensure adequate power). Given the burden of vascular morbidity and mortality in stroke patients with OSA, there is a strong need to learn from past negative trials and explore innovative stroke prevention strategies to improve stroke-free survival.
Poststroke/transient ischemic attack obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is prevalent, linked with numerous unfavorable health consequences, but remains underdiagnosed. Reasons include patient ...inconvenience and costs associated with use of in-laboratory polysomnography (iPSG), the current standard tool. Fortunately, home sleep apnea testing (HSAT) can accurately diagnose OSA and is potentially more convenient and cost-effective compared with iPSG. Our objective was to assess whether screening for OSA in patients with stroke/transient ischemic attack using HSAT, compared with standard of care using iPSG, increased diagnosis and treatment of OSA, improved clinical outcomes and patient experiences with sleep testing, and was a cost-effective approach.
We consecutively recruited 250 patients who had sustained a stroke/transient ischemic attack within the past 6 months. Patients were randomized (1:1) to use of (1) HSAT versus (2) iPSG. Patients completed assessments and questionnaires at baseline and 6-month follow-up appointments. Patients diagnosed with OSA were offered continuous positive airway pressure. The primary outcome was compared between study arms via an intention-to-treat analysis.
At 6 months, 94 patients completed HSAT and 71 patients completed iPSG. A significantly greater proportion of patients in the HSAT arm were diagnosed with OSA (48.8% versus 35.2%,
=0.04) compared with the iPSG arm. Furthermore, patients assigned to HSAT, compared with iPSG, were more likely to be prescribed continuous positive airway pressure (40.0% versus 27.2%), report significantly reduced sleepiness, and a greater ability to perform daily activities. Moreover, a significantly greater proportion of patients reported a positive experience with sleep testing in the HSAT arm compared with the iPSG arm (89.4% versus 31.1%). Finally, a cost-effectiveness analysis revealed that HSAT was economically attractive for the detection of OSA compared with iPSG.
In patients with stroke/transient ischemic attack, use of HSAT compared with iPSG increases the rate of OSA diagnosis and treatment, reduces daytime sleepiness, improves functional outcomes and experiences with sleep testing, and could be an economically attractive approach. Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT02454023.
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