Cognitive correlates of sleepiness and sleep disruption in everyday domestic settings

Sleepiness and sleep disruption caused by cohabitees could have deleterious cognitive consequences in everyday life. Research in this area is scarce, thus cognitive correlates of varying degrees of sub-optimal sleep patterns in five groups of healthy adults in domestic settings were studied. The groups studied included adults living with healthy partners, adults living with partners with a chronic, sleep-disrupting illness (Parkinson's disease), and mothers of young children

Sleep in ankylosing spondylitis and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis: associations with disease activity, gender and mood

Introduction:- The study aims were to assess the prevalence of good or poor sleep in a cohort of axial spondyloarthritis patients and to investigate its correlation with a range of objectively and subjectively measured variables in order to develop a model for distinguishing good from poor sleepers . Methods:- Five hundred ninety-eight patients with ankylosing spondylitis and 61 with nonradiographic axial spondyloarthritis completed the Jenkins Sleep Evaluation Questionnaire. Measures of disease activity, mobility, function, mood, fatigue, quality of life, work productivity, night-time pain and general health were gathered. Results:- Patients with ankylosing spondylitis or nonradiographic axial spondyloarthritis were initially compared. With the exception of waking up tired less often and having lower mobility and functioning, the two groups were similar so were combined for subsequent analysis. Twenty-nine percent of all patients were classified as good sleepers and 19% as poor sleepers. Poor sleepers had higher disease activity and fatigue scores and more night-time back pain than good sleepers. They reported poorer quality of life, general health, mood, and work-related measures. A model incorporating mood, gender, fatigue and objective and subjective judgements of disease activity correctly classified 87.3% of good and poor sleepers. Conclusions:- Poor sleep was strongly associated with poor mood, female gender, greater fatigue, greater disease activity (specifically, spinal pain and stiffness) and better mobility, however, the direction of causality between poor sleep and markers of active disease was undetermined. This study also highlights the need to standardise the measurement of sleep disturbance in axSpA to facilitate comparisons between patient groups and interventions

Real-world experience of secukinumab treatment for ankylosing spondylitis at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Bath

We reviewed our experience of treating ankylosing spondylitis patients with the IL-17 inhibitor secukinumab at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Bath. A total of 76 patients were included, of whom secukinumab was the first-line biologic drug used in 24, second line in 23, and third line in 29 patients, respectively. Only 5 patients discontinued the drug due to side effects before their first outpatient review, including 1 new case of inflammatory bowel disease. Significant improvements were seen in all disease outcome measures in patients receiving secukinumab as their first-line biologic agent, with a trend to improved mean BASDAI and BASFI even in patients receiving it as a second- or third-line biologic agent. This real-world analysis adds to the evidence recommending secukinumab as a largely safe and effective treatment for ankylosing spondylitis

Cognitive correlates of sleepiness and fatigue in sleep-disrupted mothers of children aged under five years

Two studies aimed to explore correlations between sleep disruption and subjectively and objectively measurable aspects of everyday cognitive functioning in a community of Mumsnetters