Sleep quality and structure in young women with PTSD disorder following sexual assault: Dataset

Background: Most PTSD sleep disturbances reports have been conducted in male combat veteran population, usually decades after disorder’s onset. Given the increase in the prevalence of violence against women, and that women are at greater risk for developing PTSD, it is relevant to examine sleep abnormalities in this population.
Objectives: To examine clinical characteristics, sleep quality and structure of young women with PTSD following sexual assault compared with a control group at baseline and after one-year of treatment.
Methods: Seventy-four women with PTSD following sexual assault and 64 healthy controls with no history of sexual assault were assessed by the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS-5), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), and underwent full in-lab polysomnography (PSG). PTSD participants received pharmacological and/or psychological therapy between baseline and one-year follow up.
Results: CAPS-5 mean score in PTSD-group was 42.94±8.90. As expected, the PTSD group had significantly higher scores in the clinical and sleep measurements than the control group. Although PTSD young women reported poorer subjective sleep quality than healthy controls, there were few between-group differences in objective sleep. Analysis of the PTSD-group at baseline and one-year follow-up showed that the PSQI global score was a significant predictor of PTSD improvement.
Conclusions: Sleep quality is impaired in young women with PTSD and may impact long term treatment response. Nevertheless, better sleep quality is significantly associated with PTSD improvement, independently of depression and anxiety.