Aim: Sleep could be severely affected in psoriasis because of skin symptoms and psychological repercussions of the disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of psoriasis on sleep.
Methods: A total of 202 patients with psoriasis and 202 healthy volunteers have completed a self-rated questionnaire, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, which assesses sleep quality and disturbances over a 1-month time interval. The severity of the dermatoses has been evaluated utilizing the PASI score.
Results: In psoriatic patients the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index resulted between 0 and 17 (5.56±3.93), in the controls between 0 and 18 (5.13±4.16). No statistically significant correlation was observed between the score of Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and PASI. The anti-psoriatic therapy, while causing a marked improvement of lesions and itching, does not affect the quality of sleep.
Conclusion: Although literature indicated that psoriasis negatively affects the quality of sleep, in this study this correlation was not observed.