Joint Associations of Sleep-Disordered Breathing and Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Burden With Executive Performance, Balance, and In-Hospital Falls in Patients With Subacute Supratentorial Ischemic Stroke Undergoing Inpatient Rehabilitation.

Abstract

Objective To examine the joint associations of magnetic resonance imaging-based total cerebral small vessel disease burden and sleep-disordered breathing with Stroop-based executive performance, balance, and in-hospital falls after subacute supratentorial ischemic stroke. Design Retrospective cohort study of 1,050 adults with first-ever supratentorial ischemic stroke admitted for inpatient rehabilitation. The apnea-hypopnea index was measured using portable sleep monitoring, and total cerebral small vessel disease burden was scored on brain magnetic resonance imaging. Results Low Stroop-based executive performance occurred in 437 patients (41.6%), and 110 patients (10.5%) experienced in-hospital falls. Apnea-hypopnea index per 10 events/h (β, -0.80; 95% CI, -1.26 to -0.34; P Conclusion Sleep-disordered breathing and cerebral small vessel disease burden were jointly associated with poorer Stroop-based executive and balance outcomes and an increased risk of in-hospital falls.