Objective and Subjective Measures of Sleep in men with Muscular Dystrophy

Purpose: Despite poor sleep quality being recognised in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, reports from milder forms of Muscular Dystrophy (MD), and accompanied associations with quality of life (QoL), pain and fatigue, remain limited however. Methods: Adult males (n=15 Beckers MD (BMD), n=12 Limb-Girdle MD (LGMD), n=12 Fascioscapulohumeral (FSHD), n=14 non-MD (CTRL)) completed assessments of body composition (Bio-electrical impedance), sleep (7-day 24-hour tri-axial accelerometer, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Insomnia Severity Index, QoL (SF36-v2), pain (Visual analogue scale), fatigue (Modified Fatigue Index Scale) and functional assessments (Brookes and Vignos). Results: FSHD and BMD reported worse sleep than CTRL on the PSQI. FSHD scored worse than CTRL on the Insomnia Severity Index (P<0.05). 25-81% of adults with MD reported poor sleep quality (PSQI and Insomnia Severity Index). Accelerometry identified no difference in sleep quality between groups. Associations were identified between sleep measures with body composition (BMD & LGMD), upper and lower limb function (BMD & FSHD), pain (FSHD), fatigue (BMD, LGMD, FSHD) and QoL (LGMD & FSHD). Conclusions: 25-81% of men with MD, depending on classification, experience sleep impairment, using self-report sleep measures. These findings, and associations with measures of health and wellbeing, highlight an area for further research which could impact QoL in adults with MD.