Understanding sleep-related quality of life in caregivers of people with traumatic brain injury.
This study examined the relationships among measures of subjective and objective sleep-related quality of life (SRQOL), health-related quality of life (HRQOL), and care recipient functioning in caregivers of persons with traumatic brain injury (PwTBI).
This secondary analysis utilized data from a 6-month randomized controlled trial conducted at two academic medical centers. The sample included 257 informal caregivers of PwTBI, who completed monthly survey assessments and continuous wrist actigraphy monitoring. Objective SRQOL was measured as average sleep duration and variability via actigraphy; subjective SRQOL was measured using PROMIS Fatigue and Sleep-Related Impairment. HRQOL was assessed with established caregiver and general health measures.
Caregivers (n = 228) slept a mean of 6.8 hr per night, with a mean within-month night-to-night variability of approximately 1.4 hr. Objective and subjective SRQOL were weakly correlated (r = -.02-.28), and neither was strongly associated with care recipient functioning. However, subjective sleep impairment and fatigue were highly correlated (r = .84) and showed moderate to high associations with most measures of HRQOL (r > .40). Linear mixed-effects models indicated that greater between-subjects sleep variability, but not sleep duration, was associated with worse global physical and mental health.
These findings highlight the need to further examine the relationship between sleep variability and HRQOL in caregivers of PwTBI. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
This secondary analysis utilized data from a 6-month randomized controlled trial conducted at two academic medical centers. The sample included 257 informal caregivers of PwTBI, who completed monthly survey assessments and continuous wrist actigraphy monitoring. Objective SRQOL was measured as average sleep duration and variability via actigraphy; subjective SRQOL was measured using PROMIS Fatigue and Sleep-Related Impairment. HRQOL was assessed with established caregiver and general health measures.
Caregivers (n = 228) slept a mean of 6.8 hr per night, with a mean within-month night-to-night variability of approximately 1.4 hr. Objective and subjective SRQOL were weakly correlated (r = -.02-.28), and neither was strongly associated with care recipient functioning. However, subjective sleep impairment and fatigue were highly correlated (r = .84) and showed moderate to high associations with most measures of HRQOL (r > .40). Linear mixed-effects models indicated that greater between-subjects sleep variability, but not sleep duration, was associated with worse global physical and mental health.
These findings highlight the need to further examine the relationship between sleep variability and HRQOL in caregivers of PwTBI. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Authors
Fansher Fansher, Fauser Fauser, Troost Troost, Miner Miner, Graves Graves, Sander Sander, Carlozzi Carlozzi
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