Sleep and Sleep Complaints in Juvenile Fibromyalgia Syndrome

Abstract

ObjectiveTo investigate sleep quality in juvenile fibromyalgia syndrome (JFS) and its impact on the global burden of the disease.MethodsConsecutive JFS patients who performed full-night polysomnography (PSG) were included in this cross-sectional study. JFS related symptoms, neuropsychiatric features, and sleep quality were assessed using self-report measures. PSG sleep parameters, including N3 distribution index, were obtained from patients and age-matched healthy controls.ResultsWe included 25 patients (F 20, median age 15.7 years). Non restorative sleep was reported by 22/25 (88%) patients. JFS patients showed significantly longer Sleep Period Time (P=0.004) and increased wake time after sleep onset (P=0.03) compared to healthy peers. N3 sleep distribution index was significantly lower in patients than in control group (P=0.02). Subjective poor sleep quality was related to Widespread Pain Index (WPI) (rs-0.65), symptom severity scale (rs-0.64), depressive symptoms (rs-0.58), fatigue (rs-0.44), and symptoms severity upon awakening (rs-0.65). N3 distribution index was correlated to depressive symptoms (rs0.41) and irritability (rs0.40). On multiple regression analysis, WPI was predicted by subjective sleep quality (β= -0.32, P=0.04), whereas depressive symptoms were predicted by subjective sleep measures (β= -0.32, P= 0.04) and PSG parameters (N3 min: β= -0.07, P=0.03).ConclusionSleep complaints are a key hallmark of JFS and has significant impact on relevant clinical domains of the disease, such as pain and depression.