To assess the prevalence of sleep disorders (SD) in ischemic stroke (IS) patients followed in physical medicine and rehabilitation (PMR) and to compare this prevalence to that found in a control population.

A cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of 8 months. We enrolled IS patients and case controls matched for age and sex and who met the inclusion criteria. The data studied were epidemiological and clinical. The evaluation of SD was achieved according to the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Statistical analysis was made by appropriate tests using SPSS 20 software for windows.

The studied population included 50 patients (IS-P), and 50 controls (control-P) with a median age of 58 years. The sex-ratio M/F in both populations was 1.5. The median age was 60 for women and 56.5 years for men. IS-P had more cardiovascular risk factors (hypertension, dyslipidemia) and cardiovascular complications (atrial fibrillation, carotid stenosis..) than control-P (P<0.05).

According to the Epworth sleepiness scale, IS-P had a worse sleep quality than control-P: (greater daytime sleepiness and sleep apnea syndrome [SAS]). The prevalence of SD was 42% in IS-P and 18% in control-P (P=0.012). Sleep quality as it was assessed by the PSQI was worse in IS-P than in control-P. The prevalence of poor sleep quality was 46% in IS-P and 30% in control-P (P=0.152).

Our results suggest that the prevalence of SD was higher in IS-P than in control-P. Hemiplegic patients developed more daytime sleepiness with a higher probability of SAS. Screening for SD according to questionnaires such as the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and the PSQI should be part of the assessment of any IS patient in PMR.