Intraindividuell variasjon i søvn hos personer med insomni og dets forhold til søvn, helse og livsstilsfaktorer

Forskere fra Universitetet i Bergen, Folkehelseinstituttet, Haukeland universitetssykehus, ST. Olavs hospital, NTNU, University of Virginia og University of Sydney har i denne studien undersøkt intraindividuell variasjon i søvnmønster og søvnproblemer, livsstilsfaktorer og mental og fysisk helse hos 1.720 personer med kronisk insomni. Deltagerne i studien førte søvndagbok, og besvarte aktuelle validerte spørreskjema på internett. Studie av intraindividuell variasjon i søvnmønster kan være nyttig for å forstå subjektive opplevelser av søvnproblemer, tretthet og helse hos personer med kronisk insomni. Tvetydige funn angående søvnkvalitet synliggjør i midlertid behov for ytterligere studier for å undersøke konsekvensene av intraindividuell variasjon for denne pasientgruppen.

Publisert 28.04.2022

Intraindividual variability in sleep among people with insomnia and its relationship with sleep, health and lifestyle factors: an exploratory study

Einar Bredeli, Cecilie L Vestergaard, Børge Sivertsen, Håvard Kallestad, Simon Øverland, Lee M Ritterband, Nick Glozier, Ståle Pallesen, Jan Scott, Knut Langsrud, Øystein Vedaa

Studien er publisert i Sleep Medicine

Objective: To explore associations between intraindividual variability (IIV) in sleep patterns and sleep problems, lifestyle factors, and mental and physical health in individuals with chronic insomnia.

Methods: Cross-sectional study of 1720 adults with chronic insomnia (67.8% female, mean age = 44.5) who completed online self-report questionnaires and kept a sleep diary (for at least 10 out of 14 days). Linear regression analyses examined IIV in sleep patterns as independent variables, and sleep problems, lifestyle factors, and mental and physical health outcomes as dependent variables. Analysis of each sleep variable was separately adjusted for the mean value of the corresponding variable and for selected background factors.

Results: IIV in sleep variables was significantly and positively associated with scores on the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep (DBAS-16), the Chalder Fatigue Scale (CFQ), body mass index (BMI) and alcohol consumption (AUDIT-C) at study entry. The association between IIV and mental health outcomes (ie the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS] and subjectively reported mental health status [SF-12 Mental health]) were not significant. IIV was associated with higher (ie more positively rated) mean level of sleep quality.

Conclusion: IIV of sleep patterns may be a useful construct for understanding subjective experiences of sleep problems, fatigue and health in people with chronic insomnia. Our findings support notions suggesting that IIV offers additional insights beyond those offered by studying mean values alone; however, discordant findings regarding sleep quality highlight the need for further studies to examine the consequences of IIV.