Changing indoor environments, such as using brighter indoor light during the day or cooler bedroom temperatures at night, can significantly improve sleep in people living with dementia, according to a September study conducted by the University of Surrey published in Sleep.
“We have analysed millions of hours of data, which has allowed us to see how temperature and light patterns inside the home can impact sleep for people living with dementia,” said Anne Skeldon, head of the School of Mathematics at the University of Surrey and co-author of the study. “Unlike short-term studies or carer reports, our approach captures long-term patterns in real homes, offering new insights into sleep disruption and how sleep disruption could be reduced.”
Sleep difficulty is a common condition reported with dementia. Researchers analyzed 26,523 days of data from 70 people living with dementia who were living in their own homes using contactless, under-the-mattress bed sensors to collect information. The study was funded by the UK Dementia Research Institute, through the Care Research & Technology Centre, and researchers worked in collaboration with Imperial College London, Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
Accounting for seasonal changes, when nights in the bedroom were hotter than usual, people living with dementia had more disrupted sleep and higher breathing rates. By contrast, on days when indoor lights were brighter than usual, people had longer, less fragmented sleep and lower breathing rates. Additionally, effects of temperature and light varied widely between individuals suggesting that some people are more sensitive to seasonal and environmental changes than others.