Other Titles
Anxiety and Sleep Disruption among Intensive Care Unit Patients: A Scoping Review [Poster Title]
Abstract
Background: Anxiety and sleep disruption are common, interrelated symptoms among intensive care unit (ICU) patients.1,2 These symptoms contribute to psychological distress, which can persist for months and impact the patients' recovery.3 Recent clinical guidelines from the Society of Critical Care Medicine highlighted anxiety as a key risk factor for sleep disruption.4 Thus, understanding the interplay of anxiety and sleep disruption and developing effective interventions to mitigate both are essential.
Purpose: This scoping review aimed to identify existing literature that quantitatively examined anxiety and sleep disruption among adult ICU patients.
Methods: Following the scoping review guidelines from the Joanna Briggs Institute,5 a systematic search was conducted across five databases: Ovid Medline, Ovid Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, and Scopus.
Results Of the 2,351 studies identified, 14 met the inclusion criteria. Over half of the studies (64.3%) were published since 2014, indicating recent interest. Most studies were conducted in the ICUs, but three studies (21.4%) also recruited patients outside of the ICU to capture recalled ICU memories. In six studies (42.8%), anxiety and sleep were both measured as outcomes of interventions, which were mostly non-pharmaceutical and were generally effective in lowering anxiety levels and improving sleep quality. Only one study (7.2%) examined sleep disruption as a risk factor for anxiety. Others were observational studies that explored anxiety as a predictor of sleep disruption (14.3%), or which simply described two symptoms (35.7%). Anxiety and sleep disruption were measured using various tools, with the Richard-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire (28.6%) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (21.4%) being the most frequently used. Commonly reported risk factors for both symptoms were pain, noise, light, analgesics, sedatives, and mechanical ventilation. Also, anxiety and sleep disruption were identified as common risk factors for each other.
Conclusion: In this review, we found that anxiety and sleep disruption are prevalent and interrelated symptoms in ICU patients. Studies tended to mainly describe them as distressing symptoms or intervention outcomes. Future studies should provide deeper insights into their interrelatedness and impact on the recovery of ICU patients. Also, interventions targeting both symptoms should be developed to mitigate stressful memories and psychological trauma from ICU experiences.
Notes
References:
1. Knauert, M. P., Ayas, N. T., Bosma, K. J., Drouot, X., Heavner, M. S., Owens, R. L., ... & Zee, P. C. (2023). Causes, consequences, and treatments of sleep and circadian disruption in the ICU: an official American Thoracic Society Research Statement. American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, 207(7), e49-e68.
2. Silva, R. D., Teixeira, A. C., Pinho, J. A., Marcos, P., & Santos, J. C. (2024). Sleep, anxiety, depression, and stress in critically ill patients: a descriptive study in a Portuguese intensive care unit. Acute and Critical Care, 39(2), 312.
3.Schwitzer, E., Jensen, K. S., Brinkman, L., DeFrancia, L., VanVleet, J., Baqi, E., ... & Qadir, N. (2023). Survival≠recovery: a narrative review of post-intensive care syndrome. CHEST Critical Care, 1(1), 100003.
4. Devlin, J. W., Skrobik, Y., Rochwerg, B., Nunnally, M. E., Needham, D. M., Gelinas, C., ... & Alhazzani, W. (2018). Methodologic innovation in creating clinical practice guidelines: insights from the 2018 society of critical care medicine pain, agitation/sedation, delirium, immobility, and sleep disruption guideline effort. Critical care medicine, 46(9), 1457-1463.
5. Peters, M. D., Marnie, C., Tricco, A. C., Pollock, D., Munn, Z., Alexander, L., ... & Khalil, H. (2020). Updated methodological guidance for the conduct of scoping reviews. JBI evidence synthesis, 18(10), 2119-2126.
Sigma Membership
Non-member
Type
Poster
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Acute Care, Stress and Coping, Sub-acute Care, Intensive Care Unit, ICU, Anxiety, Sleep Disruption
Recommended Citation
Kim, Hyunji; Ryamukuru, David; Brown, Talia; and Costa, Deena, "Anxiety and Sleep Disruption Among ICU Patients: A Scoping Review" (2025). International Nursing Research Congress (INRC). 130.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2025/posters_2025/130
Conference Name
36th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Seattle, Washington, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Anxiety and Sleep Disruption Among ICU Patients: A Scoping Review
Seattle, Washington, USA
Background: Anxiety and sleep disruption are common, interrelated symptoms among intensive care unit (ICU) patients.1,2 These symptoms contribute to psychological distress, which can persist for months and impact the patients' recovery.3 Recent clinical guidelines from the Society of Critical Care Medicine highlighted anxiety as a key risk factor for sleep disruption.4 Thus, understanding the interplay of anxiety and sleep disruption and developing effective interventions to mitigate both are essential.
Purpose: This scoping review aimed to identify existing literature that quantitatively examined anxiety and sleep disruption among adult ICU patients.
Methods: Following the scoping review guidelines from the Joanna Briggs Institute,5 a systematic search was conducted across five databases: Ovid Medline, Ovid Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, and Scopus.
Results Of the 2,351 studies identified, 14 met the inclusion criteria. Over half of the studies (64.3%) were published since 2014, indicating recent interest. Most studies were conducted in the ICUs, but three studies (21.4%) also recruited patients outside of the ICU to capture recalled ICU memories. In six studies (42.8%), anxiety and sleep were both measured as outcomes of interventions, which were mostly non-pharmaceutical and were generally effective in lowering anxiety levels and improving sleep quality. Only one study (7.2%) examined sleep disruption as a risk factor for anxiety. Others were observational studies that explored anxiety as a predictor of sleep disruption (14.3%), or which simply described two symptoms (35.7%). Anxiety and sleep disruption were measured using various tools, with the Richard-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire (28.6%) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (21.4%) being the most frequently used. Commonly reported risk factors for both symptoms were pain, noise, light, analgesics, sedatives, and mechanical ventilation. Also, anxiety and sleep disruption were identified as common risk factors for each other.
Conclusion: In this review, we found that anxiety and sleep disruption are prevalent and interrelated symptoms in ICU patients. Studies tended to mainly describe them as distressing symptoms or intervention outcomes. Future studies should provide deeper insights into their interrelatedness and impact on the recovery of ICU patients. Also, interventions targeting both symptoms should be developed to mitigate stressful memories and psychological trauma from ICU experiences.
Description
We conducted a scoping review of existing literature describing anxiety and sleep disruption in ICU patients. A total of 14 studies were included in the analysis, with anxiety and sleep commonly reported as distressing symptoms during ICU stays. Future studies need to investigate the mechanisms linking these two symptoms and develop effective interventions to enhance patient outcomes.