An evaluation of sleep habits and childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus

Sleep deficiency and symptoms of pain, fatigue, and depressed mood in youth with and without childhood systemic lupus erythematosus

STUDY OBJECTIVES

We undertook a study to describe and compare sleep deficiency and symptoms of pain, fatigue, and depressed mood in youth with childhood systemic lupus erythematosus (cSLE) to a healthy comparison group of youth and test the associations between sleep and symptoms of pain, fatigue, and depressed mood in youth with cSLE.

METHODS

Forty-three youth (23 youth with cSLE; 20 age- and sex-matched healthy youth) wore actigraphs and completed sleep diaries for 10 days and completed self-report questionnaires on sleep quality, pain, fatigue, and depressed mood.

RESULTS

On average, both groups had a total sleep time of less than 7 hours. Youth with cSLE had worse sleep efficiency (73.3%) and sleep regularity index scores (55.4) compared to the healthy comparison group of youth (79.2% and 60.1, respectively). Youth with cSLE had worse pain (P = .03) and fatigue (P = .004) compared to the healthy comparison group. Negative associations were found among self-reported sleep quality, sleep satisfaction, and symptoms of pain, fatigue, and depressed mood in youth with cSLE and wake after sleep onset was positively associated with fatigue.

CONCLUSIONS

Poor sleep efficiency and sleep irregularity accompanied by symptoms of pain, fatigue, and depressed mood was prevalent in youth with cSLE. Youth with lupus should be encouraged to maintain a regular sleep schedule. Because this is the first study to incorporate objective sleep and sleep regularity measures in youth with cSLE, additional studies with objective and self-reported sleep measures are needed to replicate our findings.

CITATION

Wi D, Palermo TM, Stevens A, Ward TM. Sleep deficiency and symptoms of pain, fatigue, and depressed mood in youth with and without childhood systemic lupus erythematosus. J Clin Sleep Med. 2024;20(10):1607-1614.

Temporal Daily Relationships Between Sleep and Pain in Adolescents With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

INTRODUCTION

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of pain. This study aimed to describe the temporal daily relationships between sleep and pain in adolescents with SLE.

METHOD

Twenty-three adolescents with SLE recruited from a pediatric hospital wore actigraphy and completed diaries. Generalized estimating equation models were used.

RESULTS

On average, evening pain negatively predicted subsequent sleep quality that night, and, on average, sleep quality negatively predicted morning pain. Shorter total sleep time significantly predicted higher morning pain (95% confidence intervals [CI], -0.38 to -0.03, p = .02), whereas sleep efficiency and sleep quality were not significantly associated with morning pain (95% CI, -0.03 to 0.03; 95% CI, -0.08 to 0.06, respectively). Subsequent evening pain did not predict daily nighttime sleep DISCUSSION: Our findings suggest that sleep is a target for pain interventions to include among adolescents with SLE.