The applicant's purpose is to obtain comprehensive, multi-disciplinary mentored training and research experience in sleep, sleep disorders, therapeutic sleep modalities, and standard and innovate sleep measurement methods. The applicant's research career goals are to 1) explain the factors that influence sleep patterns (continuity, duration, and circadian patterning) in cardiovascular patients; 2) explicate the relationships between sleep patterns and functional outcomes in cardiovascular disease and treatment; and 3) develop and test interventions to promote sleep patterns that have the potential to improve outcomes for cardiovascular patients. Activities will consist of academic course work, mentored training in standard and innovative sleep measurement methods, participation in multi-disciplinary seminars in sleep and circadian rhythms, and participation in case presentations at two academic, research-intensive sleep centers. Mentors will be Dr. Raymond Rosen (Robert wood Johnson Medical School) and Dr. David Rapoport (New York University).
The aims of the planned research are to examine the relationships between pre-Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery (CABS) sleep patterns and sleep patterns pre- and post-CABS weeks; relationships between age-gender, and sleep patterns pre- and post-CABS; and the relationship between sleep patterns and physical function and emotional well being. A sub-study comparing the data obtained from actigraphy to nocturnal polysomnography in CABS patients will contribute important information on the validity of actigraphy in recovering CABS patients. The finds of this study will be used to support future studies of sleep interventions in CABS patients.
