The exact prevalence of sleep disorders following stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) remains unclear. We aimed to determine the prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing, insomnia, periodic leg movement during sleep, and restless leg syndrome following stroke or TIA in acute, subacute, and chronic phases and examine the moderating effects of patient characteristics (eg, age) and methodological features (eg, study quality) on the prevalence.

We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis. Embase and PubMed were searched from inception to December 18, 2019. We included 64 047 adults in 169 studies (prospective, retrospective, case-control, and cross-sectional study designs) reporting the prevalence of sleep disorders following stroke or TIA.

In the acute phase, the overall prevalence of mild, moderate, and severe sleep-disordered breathing was 66.8%, 50.3%, and 31.6% (95% CIs, 63.8–69.7, 41.9–58.7, and 24.9–39.1). In the subacute phase, the prevalence of mild, moderate, and severe sleep-disordered breathing was 65.5%, 44.3%, and 36.1% (95% CIs, 58.9–71.5, 36.1–52.8, and 22.2–52.8). In the chronic phase, the summary prevalence of mild, moderate, and severe sleep-disordered breathing was 66.2%, 33.1%, and 25.1% (95% CIs, 58.6–73.1, 24.8–42.6, and 10.9–47.6). The prevalence rates of insomnia in the acute, subacute, and chronic phases were 40.7%, 42.6%, and 35.9% (95% CIs, 31.8–50.3, 31.7–54.1, and 28.6–44.0). The pooled prevalence of periodic leg movement during sleep in the acute, subacute, and chronic phases was 32.0%, 27.3%, and 48.2% (95% CIs, 7.4–73.5, 11.6–51.7, and 33.1–63.5). The summary prevalence of restless leg syndrome in the acute and chronic phases was 10.4% and 13.7% (95 CIs, 6.4–16.4 and 2.3–51.8). Age, sex, comorbidities, smoking history, and study region had significant moderating effects on the prevalence of sleep disorders.

Sleep disorders following stroke or TIA are highly prevalent over time. Our findings indicate the importance of early screening and treating sleep disorders following stroke or TIA.