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PTSD associated with poor sleep in patients with ACS
Patients who developed posttraumatic stress disorder after ACS may be more likely to experience poor sleep after the event, according to findings in a recently published study.
Jonathan A. Shaffer, PhD, of the Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, and colleagues examined posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms 1 month after ACS in 188 adults (men, 65.4%; mean age, 63.2 years) using the Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R). They then evaluated sleep with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) — a self-reported measure of sleep during the past month. Higher total scores indicate worse overall sleep. Probable sleep disorder was categorically defined as a global score of more than 5.
Jonathan A. Shaffer
Of the 188 study participants, 40.4% had PSQI scores of more than 5. Results from adjusted analyses revealed a significant association between ACS-induced PTSD symptoms and worse overall sleep (P=.003). Further, in an unadjusted logistic regression model, each point increase in IES-R measure of ACS-induced PTSD symptoms correlated with an approximately 6% increased odds of having probable sleep disorder. The researchers also found an association between ACS-induced PTSD symptoms and greater impairment in six of seven components of sleep (P<.05 for all).
Other findings indicated that participants who experienced poor sleep after ACS were more likely to be women, have a higher BMI and demonstrate more symptoms of depression.
“Our study is the first to examine the association of ACS-induced symptoms of PTSD with self-reported sleep,” the researchers wrote. “The implications of the PTSD-sleep association in the context of the post-ACS recovery period is thus important to consider with respect to gaining a better understanding of the association between PTSD, sleep, and cardiac prognosis as well as treatment strategies for patients recovering from an ACS.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.