Aim: To examine the effects of mechanical ventilation on the quality of sleep in patients in the intensivecare unit (ICU) using recent and relevant literature.Methods: To verify the examined objective, the results of the analysis of available original scientificworks have been used including defined inclusion/exclusion criteria and search strategy. Appropriate worksfound were analysed further. The applied methodology was in line with the general principles of Evidence-Based Medicine. The following literary databases were used: CINAHL, Medline and gray literature: GoogleScholar.Results:A total of 91 trials were found. Eleven of these relevant to the follow-up analysis wereselected: all trials were carried out under real ICU conditions and the total of 192 patients were included inthe review. There is an agreement within all trials that sleep in patients requiring mechanical ventilation isdisturbed. Most reviewed trials have shown that mechanical ventilation is probably not the main factorcausing sleep disturbances, but an appropriate ventilation strategy can significantly help to improve itsquality by reducing the frequency of the patient-ventilator asynchrony.Conclusion: Based on the analysis, it appears that an appropriate ventilation mode setting can have abeneficial effect on the quality of sleep in ICU patients.Keywords: mechanical ventilation, quality of sleep, intensive care unit