Objective To explore the correlations of sleep status during hospitalization of traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients with the severity of the illness as well as the functional outcome at discharge.

Methods A total of 90 patients with moderate to severe TBI were selected as research objects, sleep condition during hospitalization and Functional Independence Rating Scale (FIM) score at discharge were recorded, and patients were divided into good function group and poor function group according to the median FIM score. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to investigate the influencing factors of dysfunction in TBI patients. Spearman correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation of sleep status with Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, trauma severity score (ISS) and FIM score.

Results The FIM score of 90 patients ranged from 31 to 79 points at discharge, and the median FIM score was 49 points. Based on this, they were divided into good function group (n=45) and poor function group (n=45). The GCS score, sleep efficiency (SE) and average daily sleep time of the good function group were higher or longer than those of the poor function group, while the age and ISS of the good function group were lower than those of the poor function group, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Spearman linear correlation analysis showed that SE was positively correlated with GCS score (ρ=0.591, P < 0.05), negatively correlated with ISS score (ρ=-0.563, P < 0.05), and positively correlated with FIM score (ρ=0.733, P < 0.05). Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that low GCS score (t=3.900), low SE (t=2.297), older age (t=-2.734), high ISS score (t=-2.460) were independent risk factors for poor function in TBI patients (P < 0.05).

Conclusion The more severe the condition of TBI patients is, the worse their sleep at night will be, and the quality of sleep at night is highly correlated with functional outcomes at discharge.