Quality of sleep and quality of life in children with rheumatological diseases

Objective: To describe the Quality of Sleep (QoS) and Quality of Life (QoL) in children and adolescents with autoimmune rheumatologic disease. Method: This is a cross-sectional observational study that evaluated children and adolescents with autoimmune rheumatological diseases for the presence of disorders and QoS using the Sleep Disorders Scale for Children (SDSC) and to assess QoL using the Pediatric Sleep Quality Inventory Life (PedsQLTM 4.0), at pediatric rheumatology service in Bahia-Brazil. Results: Of the 98 patients studied, 56 were patients with idiopathic juvenile arthritis (JIA), 26 had juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus (JSLE), and 16 had other rheumatological diseases, grouped as follows: juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM), rheumatic fever (RF), juvenile systemic sclerosis (JSS) and mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD), with a mean age of 12.4 years (SD ± 0.441). Of these patients, 37 (37.8%) had habitual snoring and their sleep duration with mean of 8.9 hour (SD ± 2.023). Patients were assessed for QoL using the PedsQL 4.0 questionnaire and stratified according to median. No statistically significant difference was observed between clinical and sleep-related variables among patients with higher or lower QoL. Regarding the sleep domains, a statistically significant difference was observed between the groups in the domains Disorders of Excessive Somnolence (DOES), Sleep Hyperhidrosis (SHY), and Sleep-related Disorders – global score. Conclusion: The study’s sample demonstrated that most patients with rheumatological diseases had some sleep-related disorder, with those with a lower QoL exhibiting higher levels of DOES, SHY and overall Sleep-related disorder scores. QoL was observed to be negatively affected by QoS.