Care home residents with dementia: prevalence, incidence, and associations with sleep disturbance in an English cohort study

Introduction: People living with dementia in care homes often have sleep disturbances, but little is known about incidence and importance.

Methods: We interviewed 1483 participants in 97 care homes and report prevalence, 1-year incidence, and baseline associations of clinically significant sleep disturbance in people with dementia.

Results: Baseline prevalence of clinically significant sleep disturbance was 13.7% (200/1460); 31.3% (457/1462) had them at least once over 16 months. One-year incidence was 25.2%. At baseline, residents with sleep disturbance had lower quality of life (mean difference –4.84; 95% confidence interval [CI] –6.53 to –3.16) and were more frequently prescribed sleep medications (odds ratio 1.75; CI 1.17 to 2.61) than other residents.

Discussion: Approximately one-third of care home residents with dementia have or develop sleep disturbances over 1 year. These are associated with lower quality of life and prescription of sedatives, which may have negative outcomes; therefore, it is important to develop effective treatments.