Graduate Program in Health Administration & Policy (GPHAP)

Research Assistant/Internship Description

Date:
9/17/2013
Name of Project:
Understanding Sleep in Elderly Hospitalized Patients
Faculty/Mentor Contact Information
Name,Title, Department/School: Vineet Arora MD MAPP, Associate Professor, University of Chicago
Email:
Phone: 773-702-8157
To apply, contact:
Lisa Spampinato
Research Specialist
University of Chicago Medical Center
Section of General Internal Medicine
773.834.8904

Project Description
Please describe the overall project, why it is important, and briefly describe the student’s role in the project.
Better sleep is associated with a variety of improved health outcomes in older adults, such as improved cognition, mood, physical health.[i] Because of these reasons, it is recommended that older adults should improve their sleep hygiene and optimize their surrounding environment to obtain the best sleep possible. Unfortunately, this is especially difficult when older patients are hospitalized, due to a variety of factors that may disrupt sleep, such as the environment (e.g. noise), routine medical care (e.g. vital signs, medications) or illness (e.g. pain).[ii]
The overall goal of this application is to assess the feasibility of using actigraphy and standardized sleep instruments in measuring objective and subjective sleep duration and quality in hospitalized older patients. Our specific aims are:
Specific Aim #1: To assess the feasibility of using actigraphy to objectively measure sleep duration and quality in a cohort of 500 older ambulatory community-dwelling patients who become hospitalized.
Specific Aim #2: To assess the feasibility of using daily standardized sleep questionnaires to subjectively measure sleep quality in a cohort of 100 older ambulatory community-dwelling patients who become hospitalized.
Specific Aim #3: To assess the feasibility of collecting data regarding sleep disruptions using a survey and a chart-review in a cohort of 100 older ambulatory community-dwelling patients who become hospitalized.
Specific Aim #4: To determine the association between sleep duration and sleep quality and morning blood pressure among a cohort of hospitalized seniors
Specific Aim 5: To characterize the association between hospital noise, after controlling for hospital sleep duration and sleep quality, and morning blood pressure among a cohort of hospitalized seniors.
Specific Aim 6: To determine the association between sleep duration and quality and increased intensification of pharmacologic control of blood pressure among a cohort of hospitalized seniors
Specific Aim 7: To assess the feasibility of using actical to objectively measure activity count and energy expenditure of a cohort of 500 older ambulatory community-dwelling patients who become hospitalized
Specific Aim 8: To determine the association between sleep duration and quality and memory function among a cohort of hospitalized seniors.
Specific Aim 9: To assess feasibility of using subjective sleep questionnaires to measure sleep quality for a cohort of community dwelling seniors after being discharged from the hospital, in order to compare sleep quality while at home (post-hospitalization)versus as an inpatient.
Project Location (please note where the RA/Intern will be working):
University of Chicago Medical Center
Project Timelines
Desired Start Date: 10/2013
Hours Per Week: 10 hours per week
Total Hours: 100 hours
Responsibilities and Qualifications
Research Assistant Responsibilities: Please list the duties the student will fulfill. It is important that you are able to provide a valuable learning experience for the student.
Research Assistant will interact with patients eligible to participate in the study. They will consent patients to participate and interview them about their sleep habits and sleep quality while in the hospital. He or she will also collect data using specific equipment to measure sleep, activity, sound levels and blood pressure. In addition, the Research assistant will help maintain data integrity and provide assistance in any other administrative tasks related to the study.
RA Qualifications:
The applicant should be personable as he or she will need to interact with patients.

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[i] Lee CY, Low LP, Twinn S. Understanding the sleep needs of older hospitalized patients: a review of the literature. Contemp Nurse. 2005;20(2):212-20.

[ii] Tamburri LM, DiBrienza R, Zozula R, Redeker NS. Nocturnal care interactions with patients in critical care units. Am J Crit Care. 2004;13(2):102-12.