1
|
Alimoradi Z, Majd NR, Broström A, Tsang HWH, Singh P, Ohayon MM, Lin CY, Pakpour AH. Is alexithymia associated with sleep problems? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 133:104513. [PMID: 34958823 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.12.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2021] [Revised: 12/03/2021] [Accepted: 12/21/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Alexithymia, a difficulty identifying and expressing emotions experienced by oneself or others, measurably harms quality of sleep. Research has observed the association between alexithymia and sleep problems; however, the cumulative effect of this association is still unknown. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to present scientific evidence regarding the relationship between alexithymia and sleep quality. Adhering to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline, and using relevant keywords, we searched six databases: Scopus, PubMed Central, ProQuest, ISI Web of Knowledge, EMBASE, and Science Direct. We selected observational studies on the association between alexithymia and sleep. We conducted meta-analysis using a random-effect model to calculate the effect size (ES) with Fisher's z transformation. Eligible studies (N = 26) in 24 papers included 7546 participants from 12 countries. The entire ES for the association between alexithymia and sleep was 0.44 (95 % CI: 0.31, 0.56). Additionally, patient populations had a larger ES (ES = 0.55; 95 % CI: 0.30, 0.79) than healthy populations (ES = 0.30; 95 % CI: 0.20, 0.41). The results of the present systematic review and meta-analysis revealed a significant association between alexithymia and sleep problems, especially among people with any medical condition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zainab Alimoradi
- Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin 3419759811, Iran.
| | - Nilofar Rajabi Majd
- Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin 3419759811, Iran
| | - Anders Broström
- Department of Nursing, School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, 55111 Jönköping, Sweden; Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Linköping University Hospital, Linköping, Sweden.
| | - Hector W H Tsang
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong; Graduate Research Assistant at the Pennsylvania State University, USA.
| | - Parmveer Singh
- P. G. Department of Agriculture, Khalsa College Amritsar, Punjab, India.
| | - Maurice M Ohayon
- Stanford Sleep Epidemiology Research Center (SSERC), School of Medicine, Stanford University, CA, USA.
| | - Chung-Ying Lin
- Institute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Biostatistics Consulting Center, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Department of Public Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
| | - Amir H Pakpour
- Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin 3419759811, Iran; Department of Nursing, School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, 55111 Jönköping, Sweden.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
de Almondes KM, Marín Agudelo HA, Jiménez-Correa U. Impact of Sleep Deprivation on Emotional Regulation and the Immune System of Healthcare Workers as a Risk Factor for COVID 19: Practical Recommendations From a Task Force of the Latin American Association of Sleep Psychology. Front Psychol 2021; 12:564227. [PMID: 34093295 PMCID: PMC8172768 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.564227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2020] [Accepted: 04/13/2021] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Healthcare workers who are on the front line of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and are also undergoing shift schedules face long work hours with few pauses, experience desynchronization of their circadian rhythm, and an imbalance between work hours effort and reward in saving lives, resulting in an impact on work capacity, aggravated by the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), few resources and precarious infrastructure, and fear of contracting the virus and contaminating family members. Some consequences are sleep deprivation, chronic insomnia, stress-related sleep disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder. These sleep alterations critically affect mental health, precipitating or perpetuating anxiety, stress, and depression, resulting in the inability to regulate positive and negative emotions. Pre-existing sleep disorders are an important risk factor for the development and maintenance of PSTD when individuals are exposed to an important stressor such as a COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, how an individual regulates the emotion associated with worries during daytime functioning impacts nighttime sleep, precipitating and perpetuating difficulties in sleeping. All of these changes in sleep and emotional regulation also alter the immune system. Sleep deprivation is commonly associated with chronic inflammatory diseases, due to the desynchronizations in circadian rhythms, causing possible psychophysiological disorders and impaired neuroimmune-endocrine homeostasis. From this perspective, we clarify in this article how sleep disorders affect the immune system and emotional regulation, explaining their phenomenological and neurobiological mechanisms, and discussing elements of cognitive and behavioral coping for health professionals to adopt and manage a healthier sleep pattern in the COVID-19 outbreak.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Katie Moraes de Almondes
- AMBSONO Sleep Clinic, Department of Psychology and Postgraduate Program in Psychobiology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
| | | | - Ulises Jiménez-Correa
- Sleep Disorders Clinic, Research Division, Medicine Faculty, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Maksoud R, Eaton-Fitch N, Matula M, Cabanas H, Staines D, Marshall-Gradisnik S. Systematic Review of Sleep Characteristics in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Healthcare (Basel) 2021; 9:healthcare9050568. [PMID: 34065013 PMCID: PMC8150292 DOI: 10.3390/healthcare9050568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2021] [Revised: 05/01/2021] [Accepted: 05/07/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
(1) Background—Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a multifaceted illness characterized by profound and persistent fatigue unrelieved by rest along with a range of other debilitating symptoms. Experiences of unrefreshing and disturbed sleep are frequently described by ME/CFS patients. This is the first systematic review assessing sleep characteristics in ME/CFS. The aim of this review is to determine whether there are clinical characteristics of sleep in ME/CFS patients compared to healthy controls using objective measures such as polysomnography and multiple sleep latency testing. (2) Methods—the following databases—Pubmed, Embase, Medline (EBSCO host) and Web of Science, were systematically searched for journal articles published between January 1994 to 19 February 2021. Articles that referred to polysomnography or multiple sleep latency testing and ME/CFS patients were selected, and further refined through use of specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. Quality and bias were measured using the Joanna Briggs Institute checklist. (3) Results—twenty observational studies were included in this review. The studies investigated objective measures of sleep quality in ME/CFS. Subjective measures including perceived sleep quality and other quality of life factors were also described. (4) Conclusions—Many of the parameters measured including slow- wave sleep, apnea- hypopnea index, spectral activity and multiple sleep latency testing were inconsistent across the studies. The available research on sleep quality in ME/CFS was also limited by recruitment decisions, confounding factors, small sample sizes and non-replicated findings. Future well-designed studies are required to understand sleep quality in ME/CFS patients.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rebekah Maksoud
- National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases (NCNED), Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast 4222, Australia; (N.E.-F.); (M.M.); (H.C.); (D.S.); (S.M.-G.)
- Consortium Health International for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Griffith University, Gold Coast 4222, Australia
- Correspondence:
| | - Natalie Eaton-Fitch
- National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases (NCNED), Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast 4222, Australia; (N.E.-F.); (M.M.); (H.C.); (D.S.); (S.M.-G.)
- Consortium Health International for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Griffith University, Gold Coast 4222, Australia
- School of Medical Science, Griffith University, Gold Coast 4222, Australia
| | - Michael Matula
- National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases (NCNED), Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast 4222, Australia; (N.E.-F.); (M.M.); (H.C.); (D.S.); (S.M.-G.)
- Consortium Health International for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Griffith University, Gold Coast 4222, Australia
| | - Hélène Cabanas
- National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases (NCNED), Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast 4222, Australia; (N.E.-F.); (M.M.); (H.C.); (D.S.); (S.M.-G.)
- Consortium Health International for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Griffith University, Gold Coast 4222, Australia
| | - Donald Staines
- National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases (NCNED), Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast 4222, Australia; (N.E.-F.); (M.M.); (H.C.); (D.S.); (S.M.-G.)
- Consortium Health International for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Griffith University, Gold Coast 4222, Australia
| | - Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik
- National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases (NCNED), Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast 4222, Australia; (N.E.-F.); (M.M.); (H.C.); (D.S.); (S.M.-G.)
- Consortium Health International for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Griffith University, Gold Coast 4222, Australia
| |
Collapse
|