The Association Between Quality of Recovery, Objective and Subjective Sleep Quality, and Pain After Abdominal Surgery: A Cross-Sectional Study

Major surgery often leads to a decrease in sleep quality on the first postoperative night. This study aims to investigate the associations between quality of recovery, subjective and objective measured sleep quality, depth of sleep, and pain among patients who have undergone abdominal surgery. This study was designed as a cross-sectional study using the STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) checklist for observational studies to strengthen the reporting of results. For 100 patients admitted to the department of gastroenterology at a medium-sized hospital in Denmark between February and June 2021, we collected data on the quality of recovery after surgery, as well as subjective and objective sleep quality measured using Fitbit smartwatch data. Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis and multiple line regression. We found a significant association between the quality of recovery and subjective sleep parameters. Objective sleep measures showed a tendency toward an association between the total score of the Fitbit ActiGraph and the quality of recovery, although not significant. It is concluded that sleep quality is important for patient recovery. The increasing number of patients using wearables during hospitalization calls for further exploration of the reliability of such devices.