Naturalistic sleep monitoring in women suffering from bulimia nervosa

Objective: Eating disorders may be associated with alterations in sleep. Th ere is evidence that some bulimia nervosa (BN) patients have sleep abnormal ities. No studies of their sleep-wake cycles in a natural environment have as yet been reported. The purpose of this study was to evaluate an objectiv e and subjective sleep-wake cycle of BN compared to a healthy age-equaled c ontrol group (CON). Method: Twenty-nine BN female and eighteen CON subjects were recruited. Sleep-wake patterns were monitored using ambulatory monito ring, mini-actigraphs (Min-Act), for 1 week. Each subject completed self-re port questionnaires. Results: The self reporting questionnaires revealed th at BN complained of significantly more sleep disturbances than CON. The amb ulatory sleep data revealed significant differences between BN and CON in s leep onset and offset time. Discussion: BN had sleep onset and sleep offset of 1 hr later, which may he connected to binge-purge patterns during the d ay. It is suggested that future research should focus on BN after remission . (C) 1999 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.