Lower-limb warming improves sleep quality in elderly people living in nursing homes

Abstract

Sleep disturbances are common in older people. This study was conducted to examine the effects of a hot pack, which was used to warm the lower limbs, on the sleep of elderly people living in a nursing home. This is a prospective cohort involving seven elderly women. Subjects aged 74-93 years old were treated by warming the lower limbs for 40 minutes using hot packs every night over 8 weeks. A hot pack made of a dense polymer and warmed in a microwave oven was used as a warming device. In the first and last week, the subjects were required to wear an activity monitor to determine their sleep-awake status. During the second to ninth week, they received limb-warming treatment by a hot pack heated to 42°C for 40 min every night. Surface skin temperature data were collected by thermographic measurement. As a result, lower-limb warming by a hot pack significantly improved the quality of sleep in the subjects. During warming, the surface temperature of the hands and face rose by approximately 0.5-1.5°C. This study showed that lower-limb warming with a hot pack reduced sleep latency and wake episodes after sleep onset; thus, improving the quality of sleep in elderly people living in a nursing home.

Sleeping for one week on a temperature-controlled mattress cover improves sleep and cardiovascular recovery

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Relationship between traits and sleep quality of hospitalized elderly patients and sleep quality of family caregivers

“…Age‐related sleep disorders are characterized by longer sleep latency, difficulty remaining asleep, reduced slow‐wave sleep and REM, which affect deep sleep, and irregular thermoregulation during the night. All of these factors increase nighttime awakenings and lead to fragmented sleep (Li et al, 2018; Oshima‐Saeki et al, 2017; Soltani et al, 2019). At the same time, older caregivers are more likely to find it strenuous and mentally stressful to care for elderly inpatients because the caregivers themselves feel that they may also be in a poor physical state; this tends to exacerbate sleep problems (Byun et al, 2016).…”