Effectiveness of a mobility monitoring system included in the nursing care process in order to enhance the sleep quality of nursing home residents with cognitive impairment

Sleep disturbances are common in nursing homes residents with dementia. In this study, the use of a mobility monitoring system accompanied with case conferences was investigated in order to improve sleep quality in nursing home residents with cognitive impairment. An open two-phase randomized controlled trial was conducted at three nursing homes between November 2014 and September 2015. Residents were randomly assigned to an intervention group using the monitoring system and a control group not using the system. A 10-week period of intensive use of the monitoring system and case conferences led by an advanced nurse practitioner (Phase I) was followed by three months of reduced use of the monitoring system and case conferences led by an internal registered nurse (Phase II). Data were collected before intervention started (T₀), after Phase I (T₁) and after Phase II (T₂). The night shift nurse in charge rated the residents’ sleep quality on a four point scale over five subsequent nights. Data from 44 residents were included in the analysis with a linear mixed model. We observed a significant interaction between the time and groups with a more pronounced increase in sleep quality in the intervention group in T_1, but a decrease in T₂. Sleep quality in the control group stayed almost stable (F = 3.566, p = 0.034). Results indicate that the use of the mobility monitoring system can improve the assessment of night-time mobility and activity supporting nurses in planning and implementing care interventions such as repositioning, continence care and inspection rounds.