Association of poor sleep quality with clinical variables in nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease

The high prevalence of poor sleep quality in patients with chronic respiratory diseases makes it an important clinical topic. However, the prevalence and characteristics of poor sleep quality in those with nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease and its association with clinical variables remain unclear.

This retrospective study involved patients with nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease between June 2017 and May 2022. The prevalence of poor sleep quality was measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was used to and its association with clinical variables including age, sex, laboratory data, pulmonary function, respiratory symptoms, mental health, health-related quality of life, and physical function was assessed.

The median age of 233 participants was 65 years, with poor sleep quality present in 123 patients (52.8%) who were older, female, and unemployed with dyspnea, anxiety symptoms, low health-related quality of life, and low exercise capacity. Many reported that they "cannot get to sleep within 30 min," "wake up in the middle of the night or early morning," "have to get up to use the bathroom," "cannot breathe comfortably," or "cough or snore loudly." Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated a significant association between poor sleep quality, female sex, and low health-related quality of life.

Our results suggested that for the patients in this study, a multidisciplinary management that considers poor sleep quality is required and assessment of sleep quality as a screening is needed.