Jh. Foster et Tj. Peters, Impaired sleep in alcohol misusers and dependent alcoholics and the impactupon outcome, ALC CLIN EX, 23(6), 1999, pp. 1044-1051
Background: There is very little work that has investigated the self-report
ed sleep status of alcohol misusers. This study addressed that imbalance.
Methods: The study consisted of two parts: 1) the outpatient study, a sampl
e of DSM-IV alcohol-dependent subjects who were referred to an outpatient c
linic and were given a series of questionnaires, including the Pittsburgh S
leep Quality Index (PSQI); and 2) the inpatient study, a group of DSM-IV al
cohol-dependent subjects whose sleep was assessed by the Nottingham Health
Profile (NHP) sleep subscore at the start of the study and again at the 12-
week follow-up. Both the PSQI and NHP are self-report indices whereby highe
r scores indicate a poor sleep quality.
Results: In the outpatient study, the PSQI scores were significantly higher
in the alcoholics (n = 31) compared with the controls (n = 49). There were
no differences in the PSQI scores among mildly (n = 11), moderately (n = 1
0), and severely (n = 11) dependent drinkers. The PSQI total scores correla
ted with the Beck Depression Index but not with severity of dependence or a
lcohol problem scores. Sleep latency emerged as the most significant predic
tor of relapse, and sleeping badly was associated with poor outcome at the
12-week follow-up in the inpatient study.
Conclusion: Self-reported sleep disturbance can provide clinicians with inf
ormation to plan better treatment for alcohol misusers.