Impaired sleep quality in Crohn's disease depends on disease activity

Little is known concerning the relationship of disease activity and sleep disturbances in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and specifically in patients with Crohn's disease.

This study examined the prevalence of poor sleep quality in patients with active and inactive Crohn's disease compared with healthy controls.

Participants included 108 patients with Crohn's disease attending the IBD clinic of a tertiary medical center in 2009-2010 and 36 healthy volunteers. All prospectively completed a demographic questionnaire and the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI). Patients with Crohn's disease completed the Crohn's disease activity index (CDAI) and were divided into two groups accordingly: inactive disease (CDAI ≤150) and active disease (CDAI >150). Data on disease duration, medications, complications, and treatment were collected from the medical files.

Seventy-one patients had inactive Crohn's disease and 37 had active disease. All three groups were similar in mean age, sex distribution, and body mass index. Mean duration of Crohn's disease was 10.22 ± 8.6 years; 40 patients (37 %) had ileal disease, 16 (15 %) colonic disease, and 56 (50 %) ileo-colonic disease. Patients with active disease had a significantly higher mean ± SD global score on the PSQI (8.6 ± 2.4; indicating poorer sleep quality) than patients with inactive disease (4.6 ± 1.9) or control subjects (5.1 ± 1.7) (p < 0.0001 for both), with no significant difference between the inactive-disease and control groups. The correlation between the CDAI and PSQI scores was statistically significant (p < 0.001).

Impaired sleep quality is associated with active Crohn's disease, but not inactive disease.