Sleep disturbances in outpatients with ankylosing spondylitisa questionnaire study with gender implications.
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.
Hultgren
S
S
Department of Medical Sciences, University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden.
Broman
J E
JE
Gudbjörnsson
B
B
Hetta
J
J
Lindqvist
U
U
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