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Disease severity, scratching, and sleep quality in patients with atopic dermatitis.

J Am Acad Dermatol. 2008 Mar;58(3):415-20

Authors: Bender BG, Ballard R, Canono B, Murphy JR, Leung DY

BACKGROUND: The relationship between sleep quality and disease severity in patients with atopic dermatitis has not been clearly defined. METHODS: Sleep efficiency and scratching were measured over 2 nights by polysomnography, actigraphy, and self-report in 20 adults with atopic dermatitis. Tumor necrosis factor, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-10 were assayed from a subset of 9 participants. RESULTS: Sleep measured by actigraphy and polysomnography were strongly associated with each other. Decreased sleep efficiency was associated with increasing disease severity, scratching, and IL-6. Self-reported sleep quality and quality of life were not significantly correlated with either objective sleep measure. LIMITATIONS: Results in this pilot study await confirmation in a larger investigation. CONCLUSION: Objective measures but not self-report documented that increasing severity of atopic dermatitis results in more scratching and declining sleep quality. Our data also suggest an important relationship between sleep and IL-6.

PMID: 18280338 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]