Relationship between sleep quality and severity of rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease of unknown cause. Sleep complaints are common in chronic diseases like rheumatologic diseases. Sleep disturbances may be due to pain, inactivity and medication. Sleep quality disturbances in turn can aggravate physical, behavioral and psychological problems and can cause interpersonal problems.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between sleep quality and severity of rheumatoid arthritis.

In this case-control study 85 rheumatoid arthritis patients and the same number of healthy controls were studied. Data were collected using a questionnaire comprised of two parts: demographic data and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Pain and disease severity were assessed by the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and DAS28, respectively. Data were analyzed by T-test and Chi-square test.

There were 10 males and 75 females in each group. The mean age of patient and control groups was 49.5 ± 12.1 years and 48.8 ± 12.4 years, respectively. There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of age and Body Mass Index (BMI). According to PSQI, sleep quality was poor in the patient group compared to healthy controls (7.5±2.8 in patients and 4.6±3.1 in controls). The mean DAS28 score was 2.62 ± 1.21 in patients with good sleep quality and 3.33 ± 1.22 in patients with poor sleep quality and this difference was statistically significant.

It is recommended that sleep quality assessment should be performed in follow-up examinations of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.