Sleep pattern in adults patients with cerebral palsy

Abstract

Patients with cerebral palsy (CP) are in risk to sleep respiratory disorders, due to the presence of neuromuscular alteration. There are many studies evaluating sleep pattern using questtionnares in children, but very few using polysomnography (PSG) in adults with CP. The aim of this study was evaluate the sleep pattern in adults patients with CP through PSG. 22 patients with diparegic CP,11 female and 11 male, mean neck circumference 35.4 ± 2.6, mean age 26.9 ± 5.8 and mean BMI 22.0 ± 3.63. All CP patients were recruited from the Training Program in Dentistry for Persons with Disabilities, UNESP-SP-Brazil. Inclusion criteria were patients with partially preserved cognition function and ability to respond to verbal commands. Patients or caregivers that did not sign the informed consent did not participate. All patients underwent the PSG exam at Sleep Disorders Laboratory- UNINOVE University-SP-Brazil. After the habituation night, the PSG for the evaluation of sleep pattern was performed. This study was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committees of UNESP/SJC, n. 25000.058696/2010–74. 45.0% (10) patients presented obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Mean sleep stage 1,2,3,and REM were 35%, 41%,10% and 14% respectively. Mean oxyhemogloblin median and minimum were 96% and 91% respectively. The mean total sleep time was 210 min. Many patients had difficulty to sleep during PSG. This the first study to evaluate the sleep pattern, through PSG exam, in a group of adults with CP. The difficulty to sleep, represented for short total sleep time, may be due to neuromuscular disease characteristics. Although, even with a short sleep time, 45% of patients presented OSA. Short-sleep patterns and OSA may interfere with habilitation activities and community adjustment in this population. Diagnose of sleep pattern should be taken as early as possible to achieve improvement of their quality of live. We thanks to Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel/Postdoctoral National Program (CAPES/PNPD) for supporting this study- Grant No. 02495/09–0, for supporting this study. The Sleep Laboratory receives funding from the Nove de Julho University (UNINOVE) and EMG Laboratory is supported by Sao Paulo State University (UNESP).