Sleep Disturbance, depression, anxiety and perceived stress in adult
atopic dermatitis patients, and their relationship with objective and
subjective disease severity
Abstract
Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory
skin disease often associated with non-atopic comorbidities. Recently, a
severity-dependent relationship between AD with sleep and mental health
diseases has been proposed, but few studies investigated this topic
through validated questionnaires. Therefore, the present study aimed to:
(i) assess the impact of AD on sleep and psychological disorders using
validated instruments and (ii) estimate the association of AD severity
with sleep disorders and psychological symptoms distinguishing between
clinical-oriented and patient-oriented measures. Methods: We
conducted a cross-sectional, case-control study, recruiting 57 adult AD
patients matched for age and sex with 57 healthy adults. To investigate
the differences in sleep quality, insomnia, depression, and anxiety
between the two groups, we performed independent samples t-tests.
Moreover, we conducted several univariable linear regression analyses to
examine the relationship between objective/subjective severity of AD and
sleep quality, insomnia, and psychological symptoms. Results:
AD patients presented poorer sleep quality and more severe symptoms of
insomnia and depression than healthy adults. Objective and subjective AD
severity were similarly associated with worse sleep quality, anxiety,
and self-perceived stress. However, subjective AD severity was more
strongly associated with insomnia and depressive symptoms than
clinical-oriented AD severity. Conclusions: The study
demonstrated poor sleep quality and high levels of insomnia, depression,
and perceived stress in AD patients, with an aggravated psychological
status for adults with more severe disease. We suggest implementing a
multidisciplinary approach to AD management and treatment that considers
objective and subjective measures of disease severity.