Sleep disturbances in patients with major depressive disorder: incongruence between sleep log and actigraphy

Depression has become a severe global health problem, and sleeping difficulties are typically associated with depression. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among subjective sleep quality, objective sleep quality, and the sleep hygiene practices of hospitalized patients with major depressive disorder.

Daily sleep logs and actigraphy were used to obtain subjective and objective sleep data. Thirty patients were recruited from a regional teaching hospital in Taipei and completed the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression and the Sleep Hygiene Practice Scale.

Significant differences were found between subjective and objective sleep data in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). For patients with more severe depression, subjective measurements obtained using sleep logs, such as total sleep time and sleep efficiency, were significantly lower than those obtained using actigraphy by controlling for demographics.

The results regarding the differences between subjective and objective sleep data can be a reference for care providers when comforting depression patients who complain of sleep disturbance.