Project Summary/Abstract
Our overall goal in this project is to develop an in-depth understanding of the complex interplay between non-
obstructive sleep apnea (non OSA) sleep disorders and recovery after stroke. Sleep is vital to overall health
and quality of life. Abnormal or insufficient sleep is both a risk factor and consequence of stroke. Sleep also
plays a critical role in motor learning, which is the foundation of rehabilitation strategies after stroke. Although
there is a growing understanding of the interplay between sleep, stroke, and recovery in people with OSA
these complex relationships in individuals post stroke with non OSA sleep disorders are not well understood. In
order to develop targeted sleep interventions to support rehabilitation after stroke and promote optimal
recovery, it is critical to gain a fuller understanding of the prevalence and impact of non OSA sleep disorders in
people with stroke across the continuum of recovery. The specific objectives of this proposal will lay the
necessary groundwork for this as we will characterize the proportion of people with stroke that have insomnia
disorders, restless legs syndrome, and insufficient sleep; and evaluate the impact of these non OSA sleep
disorders on recovery of activities of daily living, mobility/activity, and participation across the continuum of
recovery after stroke. We will take an innovative approach to measuring sleep, mobility/activity, and
participation using a combination of techniques across the measurement spectrum that will include self-report
questionnaires, clinic-based measures of capacity, and body worn sensors. The body worn sensors will include
actigraphy to measure sleep parameters, activity monitors to measure mobility/activity levels, and Global
Positioning System (GPS) units to measure participation. Additionally, we will apply innovative, big data tools
from topological data analysis for a data driven approach to discover complex, structural, non-linear
interdependent relationships among stroke, sleep, and recovery of mobility/activity, and participation. Upon
completion of this study we will understand the prevalence and impact of non-OSA sleep disorders on recovery
of function, mobility/activity, and participation across the continuum of recovery post stroke. This is an
important, necessary step to develop appropriate sleep-based interventions to complement targeted
rehabilitation strategies to enhance the health and quality of life in people with stroke.