Factors associated with sleep disturbance in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Poor sleep quality in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been associated with poor health outcomes. However, there is a lack of research on factors associated with sleep disturbance in patients with COPD.

We investigated patterns of sleep disturbance and factors associated with sleep impairment in patients with COPD.

This was a prospective, multicenter cross-sectional study enrolling a sample of 245 COPD subjects. All patients completed the patient-reported measure, the COPD and Asthma Sleep Impact Scale (CASIS) to assess sleep impairment. The St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), the 36-item Short-Form health survey (SF-36), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the COPD Self-Efficacy Scale (CSES) were utilized to assess health-related quality of life (HRQL), anxiety/depression and self-efficacy, respectively.

About 35.1% of the patients reported that they had a bad night's sleep. Univariate analysis showed that the CASIS total score was significantly correlated with the modified Medical Research Council dyspnea scale, SGRQ total score, SF-36 PCS, SF-36 MCS, HADS-A, HADS-D and CSES (all P < 0.05). In a multivariate analysis, SGRQ total (r = 0.19, P = 0.006), SF-36 PCS (r = 0.14, P = 0.037), HADS-D (r = 0.24, P ≤ 0.001), and CSES(r = -0.12, P = 0.010) were independently associated with the CASIS score.

In this study, 35% of clinically stable patients with COPD reported poor sleep quality. Depression, poorer HRQL and self-efficacy were significantly associated with sleep disturbance in patients with COPD.