Evaluation of Sleep Quality in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: A Case-Control Study

Background and Objective: Studies indicate that people with multiple sclerosis (MS) are at increased risk of sleep disorders and the resulting negative outcomes. The aim of this study was to evaluate sleep quality in patients with MS. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, 110 patients with all confirmed types of MS as a case group and 110 healthy subjects as control group were evaluated in terms of sleep quality using Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The data collected was analyzed using t-test and chi-square tests. Results: Total score of PSQI was significantly higher in patients with MS than that of the control group (7.32 ± 2.78 vs. 5.30 ± 2.00, P = 0.001). Furthermore, PSQI scores of patients with MS was significantly higher than that of the control group in subscales including sleep latency (1.14 ± 0.99 vs 0.85 ± 0.91, P = 0.029), sleep duration (1.09 ± 0.80 vs. 0.83 ± 0.88, P = 0.048), habitual sleep efficiency (1.15 ± 0.92 vs. 0.85 ± 0.83, P = 0.017), sleep disturbance (1.25 ± 0.96 vs 0.96 ± 0.88, P = 0.013), use of sleep medication (0.69 ± 0.94 vs. 0.33 ± 0.65, P = 0.001), and daytime dysfunction (0.88 ± 0.93 vs. 32.2 ± 0.69, P = 0.001). Conclusion: Patients with MS had a significantly more improper sleep quality compared to the control group. So, poor sleep quality has a negative effect on daily activities and social communication of these patients and generally reduce their quality of life (QOL).