This cross-sectional prospective study will assess the potential association of more severe sleep apnea after spinal cord injury with more intense neuropathic pain, more severe spasticity, and more significant cardiovascular abnormalities including cardiac arrhythmias and blood pressure fluctuations. In addition, the participants' experience when undergoing home-based sleep screening test or hospital-unattended sleep screening test will be assessed in a semi-structured interview.
This cross-sectional prospective study will assess the potential association of more severe sleep apnea after spinal cord injury with more intense neuropathic pain, more severe spasticity, and more significant cardiovascular abnormalities including cardiac arrhythmias and blood pressure fluctuations. In addition, the participants' experience when undergoing home-based sleep screening test or hospital-unattended sleep screening test will be assessed in a semi-structured interview (qualitative analysis).
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
60
ApneaLink device will be used to assess the number of apnea and hypopnea events per hour of sleep.
CareTaker device will be used to continuously record the participant's arterial blood pressure and heart rate during sleep.
Faror Bithium 180 device will be used to continuously record the participant's ECG during sleep.
Lyndhurst Centre, TRI and KITE Research Institute, UHN
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Apnea-hypopnea index (AHI)
The number of apneas and hypopneas per hour of sleep recorded using the ApneaLink device.
Time frame: One night of sleep (up to 10 hours)
Neuropathic pain
Level of neuropathic pain prior to the interventions using Visual Analog Scale (0: no pain; 100: the worst pain ever).
Time frame: Pre-intervention assessment only.
Spasticity
Degree of spasticity prior to the interventions using the modified Ashworth Scale (0: normal tone; 16: all four extremities rigid in flexion or extension).
Time frame: Pre-intervention assessment only.
Cardiovascular dysfunction
The number of episodes of autonomic dysreflexia during sleep.
Time frame: Pre-intervention assessment only.
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