Association of sleep-disorders with systemic inflammatory markers and acute exacerbation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the association of sleep quality with the levels of systemic inflammatory markers in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) and the correlations between the frequency of acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) and Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI). Methods: A total of 198 COPD patients admitted in our hospital from October, 2016 to June, 2017 were screened, and 124 patients were eligible for the study. On the first day of hospitalization, the serum samples and clinical data were collected, including white blood cells, lymphocytes, platelet count, CRP and PSQI. Poor sleep quality was defined as PSQI score >5. Results: The percentage of COPD patients with poor sleep quality was about 68%. Poor sleep quality was positively correlated with the frequency of acute exacerbation in COPD patients. The ratio of neutrophil to lymphocyte (NLR), ratio of platelet to lymphocyte (PLR) and levels of CRP were higher in patients with poor sleep quality than those in the control group. NLR, PLR and CRP in peripheral blood of the patients with poor sleep quality were positively correlated with PSQI score. The CRP levels and PSQI score in COPD patients with poor sleep quality group were positively correlated with the frequency of exacerbations in the past year (r=0.437, r=0.430). Conclusion: A high percentage of COPD patients had poor sleep quality, which was positively correlated with the levels of systemic inflammation as well as the frequency of AECOPD.