Sleep quality assessment in Parkinson's disease patients: Preliminary result

Abstract

As a multisystemic neurodegenerative disorder, Parkinson disease has a broad spectrum of symptoms including motor and non-motor symptoms (NMS). As shown in studies, NMS can also impact patient's quality of sleep. The aim of our study was to assess the quality of sleep in patients with Parkinson's disease in a Tunisian population. This is a transversal and prospective study from January 2018 including all parkinsonian patients followed at the Neurology and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation departments of the University hospital of Mahdia. Patients were assessed using the Hoehn and Yahr's scale and filled out the following questionnaires: Parkinson's disease sleep scale (PDSS) and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). Twenty patients were enrolled in our study (75% male and 25% female) whose mean age was 63 ± 6.4 years. The disease duration varied from 2 to 34 months with an average of 13 months. Hoehn and Yahr staging was 2.8 ± 0.87. The mean total PDSS score was 99.5 ± 22.1 and 65% of the patients had a poor quality of sleep (PDSS score < 82 or subscore < 5). Most frequent disorders were pain or cramps interrupting sleep, night waking to urinate and fatigue or sleepiness on waking. The mean ESS score was 15.6 ± 0.78 and patients exhibited excessive diurnal sleepiness in 30% of the cases (ESS score > 10). Both the total PDSS score and EDSS were correlated with disease stage, but not with age or disease duration. Sleep disorders are common in Parkinson disease and future studies are needed to assess the effects of therapeutic options on sleep quality.