Department of Neurology, Saint Andrew's State General Hospital of Patras, Patras, Greece.
J Pain Symptom Manage. 2011 Oct;42(4):541-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2011.01.005. Epub 2011 Mar 27.
Several studies have investigated the prevalence of sleep disorders in patients suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS) and have shown that up to 54% of patients may have significantly more sleep problems than the general population. To our knowledge, however, no data are available about the quality of sleep of the primary caregivers of patients with MS.
The objectives of the current cross-sectional study were to assess the quality of sleep in Greek primary caregivers of patients with MS and to investigate its relationship with the degree of caregivers' emotional distress.
Twenty-two male and 13 female primary caregivers (mean age 47.3±12.4 years) of an equal number of patients with MS, who consented to participate, completed the validated Greek version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the validated Greek version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Thirty-five age-, gender-, and education-matched healthy controls were used for comparisons.
Caregivers experienced a higher degree of anxiety than depression. The mean score in the seven-item HADS-A subscale was 9.5±4 (range 3-15) and the mean score in the seven-item HADS-D subscale was 7.1±3.1 (range 2-14). The mean scores of caregivers on both HADS-A and HADS-D were significantly higher than those of controls (P<0.001). The PSQI scoring demonstrated that 19 (54.3%) caregivers had poor sleep quality (cut-off value of >5). The mean values of caregivers for the PSQI were 6.0±2.8 (range 2-12) compared with controls, who scored at a significantly lower level (1.5±0.8; P<0.001). Poor quality of sleep was significantly correlated with increased levels of anxiety (r=0.392; P=0.02) and depression (r=0.424; P=0.01). Among the PSQI components, the sleep duration and sleep latency were mostly influenced by the degree of emotional distress.
A significant proportion of primary caregivers of MS patients experience poor sleep quality. The degree of their emotional distress appears to significantly influence their quality of sleep. Appropriate psychopharmacological interventions may be required for those individuals.
多项研究调查了多发性硬化症（MS）患者中睡眠障碍的患病率，结果表明，多达 54%的患者可能比一般人群有更多的睡眠问题。然而，据我们所知，目前尚无关于 MS 患者主要照顾者睡眠质量的数据。
本横断面研究的目的是评估希腊语 MS 患者主要照顾者的睡眠质量，并研究其与照顾者情绪困扰程度的关系。
22 名男性和 13 名女性（平均年龄 47.3±12.4 岁）MS 患者的主要照顾者同意参加研究，他们完成了经过验证的希腊语匹兹堡睡眠质量指数（PSQI）和经过验证的希腊语医院焦虑和抑郁量表（HADS）。使用 35 名年龄、性别和教育程度匹配的健康对照进行比较。
照顾者经历了更高程度的焦虑而不是抑郁。HADS-A 七项子量表的平均得分为 9.5±4（范围 3-15），HADS-D 七项子量表的平均得分为 7.1±3.1（范围 2-14）。照顾者的 HADS-A 和 HADS-D 得分均明显高于对照组（P<0.001）。PSQI 评分显示，19 名（54.3%）照顾者的睡眠质量较差（>5 为临界值）。照顾者的 PSQI 平均值为 6.0±2.8（范围 2-12），而对照组的得分明显较低（1.5±0.8；P<0.001）。睡眠质量差与焦虑程度（r=0.392；P=0.02）和抑郁程度（r=0.424；P=0.01）显著相关。在 PSQI 各组成部分中，睡眠时间和睡眠潜伏期主要受情绪困扰程度的影响。
MS 患者的主要照顾者中有相当一部分人睡眠质量较差。他们的情绪困扰程度似乎显著影响他们的睡眠质量。可能需要对这些个体进行适当的精神药理学干预。
