The impact of sleep disorders on quality of life in patients with epilepsy

Objective

We aimed to explore the prevalence of sleep disorders and their impact on the quality of life (QoL) in patients with epilepsy (PWE) in western China.

Methods

This cross-sectional study included PWE aged ≥14 years who were assessed using QoL in epilepsy-31 inventory (QOLIE-31), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), STOP-BANG questionnaire, Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS), Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), Chinese version of Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory for Epilepsy (CNDDI-E) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). The impact of sleep disorders, depression and anxiety on all aspects of QOLIE-31 scores in PWE were assessed.

Results

A total of 458 PWE were enrolled. Mean QOLIE-31 score was 51.27±9.69. Relevant assessment scales showed that 10.3 % of the patients suffered from insomnia, 12.9 % of the cohort had a high risk of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), 33.0 % of the patients had excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), 48.0 % of the patients reported poor sleep, while 46.3 % and 36.5 % of the patients reported depression and anxiety, respectively. The stepwise multivariate linear regression analysis highlighted that depression(β=-0.638, 95 %CI:0.876∼-0.401, p < 0.05), anxiety(β=-0.508, 95 %CI:0.708∼-0.307, p < 0.05), EDS(β=-0.210, 95 % CI:0.364∼-0.057, p = 0.007), number of antiseizure medications (ASMs)(β=-1.268, 95 % CI:2.318∼-0.217, p = 0.018), insomnia(β=-0.161, 95 % CI:0.292∼-0.030, p = 0.016) and seizure frequency(β=-0.570, 95 % CI:1.129∼-0.011, p = 0.046) were the main factors that influenced the total score of QOLIE-31 in PWE.

Conclusions

PWE showed a high prevalence of sleep disorders, especially insomnia, OSA and EDS, which significantly reduced the QoL of PWE in western China. Addressing sleep and psychiatric disorders might improve the overall QoL of PWE.