AbstractBackgroundSleep disturbances are common in individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI); and sleep disturbances increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Lower ratings of quality of life (QoL) are also found in MCI. We examined the association between sleep disturbances and QoL ratings among participants with MCI.MethodsBaseline in‐home sleep assessments using the WatchPAT (Itamar Medical) and the QoL in AD questionnaire were collected from amnestic MCI (aMCI) participants from the diet intervention trial, Brain Energy for Amyloid Transformation in Alzheimer’s Disease (BEAT‐AD) at the Wake Forest ADRC. The WatchPAT assessed sleep time, efficiency, and sleep‐related hypoxemia measures including the apnea‐hypopnea index (AHI), oxygen desaturation index (ODI) and respiratory disturbance index (RDI), where higher values indicate greater disturbances in sleep. The QoL in AD scale ranged from 13–52 with lower scores indicating poorer QoL ratings. We assessed the association between total sleep time and sleep efficiency with QoL. Pearson correlations and regression models measured the association of sleep metrics with QoL scores.ResultsForty‐two aMCI participants (mean age =69.0 ± 7.4 years; N=23 female; mean BMI =27.6) were studied. Disturbed sleep indicated by the average number of apneas and hypopneas (AHI, mean = 18.6 ± 14.6) and respiratory events or related arousals (RDI, mean = 20.7 ± 14.2) was negatively associated with lower subjective measures of QoL. Higher AHI and RDI scores, indicating greater intermittent hypoxia and respiratory burden, were associated with lower QoL (AHI: r= ‐0.359, p=0.027; RDI: r= ‐0.340, p=0.037). There was a trend toward a negative association of ODI and QoL scores (r= ‐0.309, p=0.059). Regression models including age, sex, and BMI did not significantly predict QoL scores with AHI (F(4,35)=1.95, p>.1) or RDI (F(4,34)=1.76, p>.15), however, AHI and RDI individually added significantly to the prediction of QoL scores (AHI: B=‐.136, t=‐2.4,P<.05; RDI: B=‐.162, t=‐2.4, p<.05).ConclusionsGreater sleep disturbances related to hypoxic and respiratory events were associated with lower self‐ratings of QoL in MCI participants. Further research will increase the sample, investigate the impact of hypoxic and respiratory events on brain function, and whether longitudinal changes in diet influence the relationship of sleep‐related hypoxemia and QoL.