Researchers from the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute will participate in a national study to determine whether medical devices used in the home can diagnose sleep apnea that often develops after traumatic brain injuries (TBI).

The $2.68 million study will compare the accuracy of formal laboratory screening versus wristwatch–like sensors that TBI patients will wear to measure sleep patterns.

Researchers want to know if wrist actigraphs, if proven comparable to full–scale polysomnography commonly used in sleep labs, would offer a reliable, accessible method to diagnose sleep apnea and lead to earlier treatment. The disorder – characterized by snoring and pauses in breathing that disrupt rest – often goes undiagnosed, which for TBI patients can be a crucial setback in recovery.

“Optimizing sleep is essential for neurorecovery after TBI,” said Dr. Kathleen Bell, the project’s investigator at the O’Donnell Brain Institute at UT Southwestern Medical Center and Chair of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Funding for the study comes from the Patient–Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to further previous work from the multi–institutional team on how TBI affects sleeping patterns.

The team recently published the largest study examining sleep apnea incidence in consecutive admissions to inpatient brain injury rehabilitation. The researchers found that 50 percent of all brain injury admissions, and 37 percent of persons with TBI, were diagnosed with sleep apnea.

Up to 3 million TBIs occur in the U.S. each year, but diagnosing the ensuing cases of sleep disorder has been a challenge because most TBI patients don’t realize they’re at higher risk and are unaware their sleep is being disrupted by snoring or other symptoms.

Dr. Bell’s research aims to improve the diagnosis rate by demonstrating whether simpler, home–based technology such as home polysomnographs (wrist actigraphs) can be just as effective as the thorough testing conducted in a laboratory.