Sleep findings in young adult patients with posttraumatic stress disorder.
BACKGROUND
Laboratory sleep studies in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have not provided consistent evidence of sleep disturbance, despite apparent sleep complaints. Most of these studies have investigated middle-aged chronic PTSD subjects with a high prevalence of comorbidities such as substance dependence and/or personality disorder.


METHODS
Ten young adult PTSD patients (aged 23.4 +/- 6.1 years) without comorbidities of substance dependence and/or personality disorder underwent 2-night polysomnographic recordings. These sleep measures were compared with those of normal control subjects and were correlated with PTSD symptoms.


RESULTS
Posttraumatic stress disorder patients demonstrated significantly poorer sleep, reduced sleep efficiency caused by increased wake time after sleep onset, and increased awakening from rapid eye movement (REM) sleep (REM interruption). We found significant positive correlations between the severity of trauma-related nightmare complaints and the percentage of REM interruption, as well as wake time after sleep onset.


CONCLUSIONS
The results indicate that trauma-related nightmares are an important factor resulting in increased REM interruptions and wake time after sleep onset in PTSD.
Habukawa
Mitsunari
M
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. hmitsu@med.kurume-u.ac.jp
Uchimura
Naohisa
N
Maeda
Masaharu
M
Kotorii
Nozomu
N
Maeda
Hisao
H
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017286:Polysomnography / Q000379:methods; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000502:physiology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000150:complications*