Sleep quality and depression in adults with durable left-ventricular assist devices

Abstract

Poor sleep quality and depression remain understudied in patients implanted with a left-ventricular assist device (LVAD). This study aimed at describing sleep quality and depression pre and 6 months post LVAD implantation, examining the change in sleep quality and depression over time, and exploring the relationships among sleep quality and depression. An observational research design was used in this study involving 23 patients with LVADs. Patients’ demographics, clinical characteristics, subjective and objective sleep data, and depression were collected pre and 6 months post-LVAD implantation hospitalization. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed in data analysis. We found that poor sleep quality and depression were highly prevalent during pre and post LVAD. Comparing pre to post LVAD, there was a significant change in depression, sleep efficiency, and sleep quality. Differences between sleep quality and depression scores pre to post LVAD were negatively correlated, although there were positive correlations between depression sleep quality scores. These findings are fundamental to informing future research further to understand the sleep-depression phenomenon in the LVAD population. Research is needed to understand the mechanism of the phenomenon and identify