Sleep quality among patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Introduction: Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive disease of unknown pathogenesis, associated among others, with sleep disturbances. Aim: of the study was to explore the association between sleep quality and indices of health-related quality of life (QoL), physical activity, anxiety or depression, as well as PFTs. Methods: Newly-diagnosed consecutive IPF patients (n=36) underwent PFTs and completed the following questionnaires: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Saint George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). Results: Mean age of IPF patients was 69. 6±6.2 years, the majority (n=33, 91.6%) were males. Their mean BMI was 28.2±3 Kg/m 2 while the total SGRQ score was 41±22.1 (symptoms and activity score were 41.4±21.7 and 62.6±29.6 respectively). Eleven patients (30.6%) had a PSQI≥5, indicative of poor sleep quality. Compared with those with good sleep quality (PSQI 2 , p=0.613 respectively). No difference was found in scores of SGRQ (47.06±19.95 vs. 48.16±22.92, p=0.886), IPAQ (404.25±711.63 vs. 497.84±624.19, p=0.691), SDS (43.57±5.4 vs. 41.78±8.82, p=0.485) and ESS (5.36±3.73 vs. 6±5.42, p=0.705). Likewise, PFTs revealed no difference. A significant difference was observed only in SAS score for anxiety (34.79±4.87 vs. 40.16±7.81, p=0.021). Conclusions: IPF patients often report poor sleep quality that cannot be predicted by lung function or overall health-related QoL and must be detected by specific questionnaires.