Schizophrenia patients with predominantly positive symptoms have more disturbed sleep-wake cycles measured by actigraphy.
Sleep disturbances are widespread in schizophrenia, and one important concern is to determine the impact of this disruption on self-reported sleep quality and quality of life (QoL). Our aim was to evaluate the sleep-wake cycle in a sample of patients with schizophrenia (SZ), and whether sleep patterns differ between patients with predominantly negative versus predominantly positive symptoms, as well as its impact on sleep quality and QoL. Twenty-three SZ outpatients were studied with 24 h continuous wrist-actigraphy during 7 days. The quality of sleep was assessed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the self-reported QoL was evaluated with the World Health Organization Quality of Life - Abbreviated version (WHOQOL-Bref). About half of the studied population presented an irregular sleep-wake cycle. We found a trend for more disrupted sleep-wake patterns in patients with predominantly positive symptoms, who also had a trend self-reported worse quality of sleep and worse QoL in all domains. Overall, patients with worse self-reported QoL demonstrated worse sleep quality. Our findings suggest that SZ patients are frequently affected with sleep and circadian rhythm disruptions; these may have a negative impact on rehabilitation strategies. Moreover, poor sleep may play a role in sustaining poor quality of life in SZ patients.
Lisbon's Psychiatric Hospitalar Center (CHPL), Lisbon, Portugal. pedromafonso@netcabo.pt
Pedro
P
Afonso
Sofia
S
Brissos
Maria Luísa
ML
Figueira
Teresa
T
Paiva
D056044:Actigraphy / Q000379:methods; D000328:Adult; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*