According to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, higher psoriasis (PsO) activity is independently linked to disruptions in certain aspects of sleep, though it does not affect overall sleep quality.
Damiano Currado from the Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome’s medical school, along with his team, examined the connection between psoriasis severity and sleep quality, while also determining whether disease severity independently predicts delayed sleep onset and daytime dysfunction. The analysis involved 136 consecutively assessed psoriasis patients.
The researchers found that the study participants generally had low disease activity, with a median Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score of 2. The median global Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score was 5, indicating borderline sleep disturbance. Patients with a PASI of 10 or higher showed significantly worse sleep latency and greater daytime dysfunction. No notable differences were found in overall PSQI scores. A PASI of 10 or higher was independently associated with longer sleep onset (β = 0.95) and increased daytime dysfunction (β = 2.52) after adjusting for confounding factors.
“These findings highlight the importance of assessing specific sleep disturbances and reinforce the need to incorporate sleep metrics into a holistic, patient-centered approach for managing psoriasis,” the authors write.
About the Author
