# Sleep and Cognition after Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2024 · $48,974

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The purpose of this Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Pre-Doctoral
Fellowship in Nursing Research (F31) application is to provide research training for Mr. Zheng, a second-year
doctoral student at the University of Washington School of Nursing. The long-term goal of this training is for
this applicant to develop into an independent influential researcher in a research-intensive academic setting
with an innovative and productive interdisciplinary program. This research will be dedicated to integrating
physiologic measures into bio-behavioral interventions to reduce and ameliorate symptom burden in individuals
with advanced heart failure (AHF) and mechanical circulatory support (MCS) devices. Individuals with AHF
experience severe refractory symptom burden despite maximum medical therapy. Cardiac transplant is the
optimal treatment option for AHF. However, organ shortage and ineligibility for transplant make MCS devices,
such as Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVADs), the only treatment option for individuals with advanced age
and comorbid conditions requiring permanent support, known as destination therapy (DT). The number of
patients attaining longer-term survival with DT-LVAD is rapidly growing with increased durability of mechanical
support, and expanded indications for DT-LVAD to include patients in earlier stages of heart failure. While
studies on sleep and sleep disorders among individuals with heart failure are extensive, investigating sleep as
an important clinical outcome for DT-LVAD recipients has not kept pace with the rapidly expanding therapeutic
indications and evolving technology advancements in MCS for AHF care. Better understanding of LVAD effects
on physical and psychological symptoms will be essential to effectively care for, and support LVAD patients
post-implant. The purpose of this prospective concurrent mixed-methods study is to describe changes in
objective and subjective sleep quality at 3 months in persons with AHF following DT-LVAD, and to determine
associations between change in sleep quality as they relate to changes in cognitive function, psychological
symptoms and health-related quality of life. Moreover, this award will prepare a pre-doctoral trainee through
advanced coursework and direct research experience, the use of mixed methods, focused analysis of
symptom changes observed post-LVAD implant, and discovery of highly relevant links among multiple sleep
and AHF-related symptoms. Findings generated from this investigation will provide foundational knowledge for
building a new program of research in symptom and symptom management science in AHF.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10773133
- **Project number:** 5F31NR019924-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Tao ZHENG
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $48,974
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-03-01 → 2025-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10773133

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10773133, Sleep and Cognition after Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation (5F31NR019924-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10773133. Licensed CC0.

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