SLEEP TIMING AND CIRCADIAN PREFERENCES IN A SAMPLE OF EGYPTIAN PATIENTS WITH HEPATIC CIRRHOSIS

OBJECTIVE : to evaluate the sleep timing and circadian preference in a sample of Egyptian patients with hepatic cirrhosis in comparison to healthy individuals METHODS : Individuals with hepatic cirrhosis (n=50) and healthy controls (n=30) were recruited. Sleep quality, sleep timing parameters and circadian preference were evaluated using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Sleep Timing Questionnaire (STQ) and The Composite Scale for Morningness (CSM) respectively. RESULTS : As compared to healthy controls, patients with hepatic cirrhosis reported significantly higher problems in Subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep disturbances, use of sleep medic ations, and total score of PSQI. They also showed overall more pronounced evening preference in addition to delayed timings for both bedtimes and awakening times in week days but not in weekends. CONCLUSIONS : Disturbances of both quality and timing of sle ep are prominent in hepatic patients. Further larger studies are needed to explore the exact pathophysiological mechanism of such an association