Sleep disorders in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: association with quality of life, fatigue, depression levels, functional disability, disease duration, and activity: a multicentre cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective To investigate the correlations between pain, quality of life, fatigue, levels of depression, disability and activity, and sleep quality and common sleep disorders in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods This multicentre, cross-sectional study enrolled patients with RA and sex- and age-matched control subjects. Clinical, sociodemographic, serological and therapeutic data were collected. Data from the Disease Activity Score (DAS28-CRP), the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Berlin questionnaire, a visual analogue scale to evaluate fatigue severity (VAS-F), health assessment questionnaire disability index (HAQ-DI) and the Center for Epidemiological Studies-depression (CES-D) score were analysed. Results The study enrolled 247 patients with RA (190 females and 57 males) and 60 control subjects (50 females and 10 males). The PSQI for patients with RA was significantly associated with the DAS28-CRP, HAQ-DI and VAS-F. There was a significant correlation between the CES-D score, the Berlin questionnaire and the HAQ-DI and the age of control subjects. Multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated that HAQ-DI (coefficient β = 0.103) and VAS-F (coefficient β = 0.028) significantly predicted the risk of sleep apnoea. Conclusion Patients with RA may suffer from poor sleep quality, which is attributed to depression, fatiguability, disability and disease activity.

Esophagus Dilation and Quality of Life in Adults with Scleroderma and Concomitant Obstructive Sleep Apnea

“…Studies also indicate that untreated OSA significantly reduces QoL, affecting social, emotional, and physical wellbeing [8,9]. There are similar findings in other systemic rheumatologic diseases, indicating that reduced quality of life and sleep disturbances are common, further underscoring the effects of these conditions on patient well-being [10].…”

Correlation between disease activity and patient-reported health-related quality of life in rheumatoid arthritis: a cross-sectional study

“…[10][11][12] In recent years, several studies have attempted to explore the correlation between RA disease activity and HRQoL. [13][14][15] Previous studies have shown a high consistency of results, with a negative correlation between disease activity and HRQoL. 15 It was also found that insufficient sleep, increasing age and mental health conditions are factors that impact the HRQoL of people with RA.…”

Fatigue in rheumatoid arthritis patients: The status, independent risk factors, and consistency of multiple scales

“…12 Moreover, some previous studies also exhibit that sleep disorders and comorbidities (such as hypertension, hypothyroidism, and deficiency anemias) are linked with fatigue in RA patients. 13,14 However, the gap of the above studies is that the vast majority of these studies use a single scale for fatigue evaluation in RA patients. More importantly, few studies verify the consistency among different scales for fatigue evaluation in RA patients.…”

“…Previous studies have explored fatigue conditions and some fatigue-related risk factors (including disease-related, personal, social, and seasonal factors) in RA patients. [9][10][11][12][13][14] For example, one recent study shows that fatigue occurrence is 62%; meanwhile, education level and disease activity are related to fatigue score in RA patients. 9 Simultaneously, another study indicates that some factors are associated with fatigue in RA patients, such as age, disease duration, functional disability, quality of life, and so on.…”