Epidemiology of sleep quality in irritable bowel syndrome

Objective

Subjectively reported sleep disturbance is common in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Studies have examined subjective and objective sleep quality in IBS. We aimed to explore the characteristics of people with IBS according to the quality of their sleep.

Design/method

Participants were recruited from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) research register ContactME-IBS. We collected data on demographics, gastrointestinal symptoms, psychological health and quality of life using validated questionnaires among adults with Rome IV IBS. We dichotomised the cohort according to whether they were good or poor sleepers, with poor sleepers defined by a Pittsburgh Sleep Index Score >5, as recommended. We compared the characteristics of the two groups and explored factors associated independently with poor sleep using logistic regression.

Results

Of 341 respondents with Rome IV IBS, 287 (84.2%) were poor sleepers. Poor sleepers were older (50.4 years vs 44.2 years, p = 0.007), had more severe IBS symptoms (mean total IBS severity scoring system 295.9 vs 239.7, p < 0.001), had a longer duration of IBS (82.2% IBS for ≥5 years vs 66.7%, p = 0.009) and had higher levels of anxiety, depression and more somatoform symptom-reporting as well as worse IBS-specific health-related quality of life (p<0.001 for all analyses). After logistic regression, older age and having higher levels of somatoform symptom-reporting were independently associated with poor sleep.

Conclusion

Poor sleep in IBS is independently associated with age and somatoform symptom-reporting. Better understanding of the associations between sleep and IBS could help personalise management of IBS.