Rise & Shine: Promoting Sleep Quality in Chronic Stroke with Exercise

Sleep is essential to our health and well-being. Poor sleep quality is linked to chronic health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes, cognitive impairment, and dementia. After a stroke, people often experience difficulties in getting a good night’s sleep. Approximately half of stroke survivors have trouble falling and/or staying asleep. Poor sleep quality among stroke survivors increases the risk of recurrent stroke by 3-fold and the risk of early death by 76%. Hence, stroke survivors need strategies to promote better sleep. Fortunately, evidence shows that exercise can improve sleep quality even among those with sleep problems. Whether exercise training can improve sleep quality in adults with chronic stroke (i.e., at least 12 months since their stroke) and poor sleep quality is unknown. This study will investigate the effect of twice-weekly exercise training on sleep quality over a 6-month period in persons with chronic stroke (i.e., had a stroke more than 12 months ago) and poor sleep quality. We will also investigate the effect of exercise training on sleep duration, time spent in physical activity and sitting, thinking abilities, cardiovascular health, mood, and quality of life. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research funds this BC-based research to principal investigator Professor Teresa Liu-Ambrose, a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Healthy Aging at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Professor Liu-Ambrose’s research program focuses on the promotion of mobility and cognitive outcomes in older adults with chronic stroke and mild cognitive impairment through lifestyle interventions. Postdoctoral fellow Guilherme Moraes Balbim has received the StrokeCOG & Michael Smith Research BC Postdoctoral Fellowship to assist with recruitment, personnel training, manage participant flow and the study timeline, oversee data management and quality, conduct data analysis, lead the writing of scientific articles and knowledge translation materials, and present findings in scientific conferences and knowledge translation initiatives. Our proposed research will inform how to get better sleep after a stroke to promote recovery, long-term health, and well-being.