This study investigates whether an individually designed environment can support and improve the quality of daytime resting periods in in-hospital neurorehabilitation of patients suffering severe acquired brain injury. The effect of a individually optimized resting environment will be tested against a standard resting environment.
Aim: The aim is to identify differences in quality of rest as reflected by clinical evaluation, pulse rate, motor activity and autonomic balance between the optimized resting environment (ORE) and the standard resting environment (SR). Method: A Randomized controlled time-series study. Randomization to either SR or ORE for each of the 9 resting periods during a three-day recording session. A period of three days will allow collection of sufficient data. This will also allow the analysis to take the random effects of time and weekday into account. Outcome measures will be differences in mean heart rate during daytime resting periods, aggregated measures of heart rate variability and proportion of resting minutes according to accelerometry.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
29
Alarms from feeding pumps will be relayed to the nurse call system for all intervention periods. Alternatively meals will be timewise reorganized to not interfer with the intervention resting periods. Signs reminding staff not to disturb will be posted for all intervention periods. For each patient the close team of rehabilitation professionals will agree upon a guideline suggesting the optimal resting environment for the specific patient. The guideline wil be based on knowledge gathered from relatives on pre-injury preferences. Furthermore, the guideline will be developed based on a toolbox of possible intervention representing best practice. The toolbox has been designed according to the categories of the International Classification of Functioning. The intervention will designed individually for each patient.
The control condition, standard resting environment, will consist of a basic positioning either reclined in bed or reclined in wheelchair according to regular procedures of the ward. Pressure ulcers and positioning believed to induce pain will be avoided.
Regionshospitalet Hammel Neurocenter
Hammel, Denmark
Clinical evaluation of quality of rest
A five option categorical scale going from "really bad"-"bad"-"good"-"really good "+ the option of "insufficient information for evaluation". Evaluation is performed by the patient responsible clinician at the end of each resting period. Duration of resting periods will be varying according to the needs of the patients for each resting period.
Time frame: Measurement represent the evaluated quality of rest for the duration of the resting period. Duration of resting periods will be varying according to the needs of the patients for each resting period. Estimated to be 30 minutes to 2½ hours.
Actigraphic evaluation of motor rest ratio (MRR)
Actigraphy will be measured during all resting periods. Epochs of 1 minute will be defined as active or inactive based on previous used limits. Motor rest ratio (MRR) defined as the proportions of minutes defined as resting out of all minutes recorded in each resting periods will be used to describe degree of motor rest
Time frame: Continuous data will be aggregated from the duration of each resting period. Duration of resting periods will be varying according to the needs of the patients for each resting period. Estimated to be 30 minutes to 2½ hours.
Heart rate variability: LF band of the power spectrum of a 256 hz ECG recording
The mean or median (Depending on distribution) low frequency power spectrum of all epochs for the duration of the resting periods will be used to characterize the balance in the autonomous nervous system.
Time frame: Continuous data will be aggregated from the duration of each resting period. Duration of resting periods will be varying according to the needs of the patients for each resting period. Estimated to be 30 minutes to 2½ hours.
Heart rate variability: HF band of the power spectrum of a 256 hz ECG recording
The mean or median (Depending on distribution) High frequency power spectrum of all epochs for the duration of the resting periods will be used to characterize the balance in the autonomous nervous system.
Time frame: Continuous data will be aggregated from the duration of each resting period. Duration of resting periods will be varying according to the needs of the patients for each resting period. Estimated to be 30 minutes to 2½ hours.
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Heart rate variability: LF/HF ratio of the power spectrum of a 256 hz ECG recording
The mean or median (Depending on distribution) LF/HF ratio of all epochs for the duration of the resting periods will be used to characterize the balance in the autonomous nervous system.
Time frame: Continuous data will be aggregated from the duration of each resting period. Duration of resting periods will be varying according to the needs of the patients for each resting period. Estimated to be 30 minutes to 2½ hours.
Heart rate variability: SDNN a time domain estimate of heart rate variability from of a 256 hz ECG recording
The mean or median (Depending on distribution) SDNN of all epochs for the duration of the resting periods will be used to characterize the balance in the autonomous nervous system.
Time frame: Continuous data will be aggregated from the duration of each resting period. Duration of resting periods will be varying according to the needs of the patients for each resting period. Estimated to be 30 minutes to 2½ hours.
Heart rate
The mean/median heart rate of a 0.2 hz reported heart rate as measured by the monitor system Mindray nseries TM80.
Time frame: Continuous data will be aggregated from the duration of each resting period. Duration of resting periods will be varying according to the needs of the patients for each resting period. Estimated to be 30 minutes to 2½ hours.
Respiratory rate
The mean/median respiratory rate of a 0.2 hz reported respiratory rate as extrapolated by the monitor system Mindray nseries TM80 from a 256 hz ecg.
Time frame: Continuous data will be aggregated from the duration of each resting period. Duration of resting periods will be varying according to the needs of the patients for each resting period. Estimated to be 30 minutes to 2½ hours.