title: Sleep disturbances in outpatients with ankylosing spondylitisa questionnaire study with gender implications.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the sleep pattern in ankylosing spondylitis, and to investigate gender differences in sleep, pain, and fatigue.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-three male and 27 female patients with ankylosing spondylitis completed a sleep questionnaire and the results were compared with earlier findings in 3,558 persons randomly selected from the general population.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Too little sleep was reported by 80.8% of the female and 50.0% of the male patients, compared to 28.8% and 21.8% respectively in the reference group (p<0.0001). The main reason was pain in the pre-sleep and sleep-periods (p<0.0001). Daytime fatigue was a major problem (p<0.0001). Higher correlation was found between pain and daytime fatigue than between sleep disturbance and daytime fatigue.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Sleep disturbance is a significant problem in ankylosing spondylitis. The disturbance is closely related to pain at bedtime and during the night. Gender differences exist in the subjective sleep disturbance, fatigue, and pain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sciences, University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hultgren
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Broman
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gudbjörnsson
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hetta
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Lindqvist
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D005221:Fatigue; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012894:Sleep Stages; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires