Sleep disorders in Wilson’s disease: a questionnaire study

• Published in: Neurological sciences Vol. 44; no. 1; pp. 209 - 214
• Main Authors: You, Zhifei, Xu, Hui, Wu, Zhonghua, You, Zhengchen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.01.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Daytime; Disorders of Excessive Somnolence - complications; Hepatolenticular Degeneration - complications; Hepatolenticular Degeneration - epidemiology; Humans; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Movement disorders; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neurology; Neuroradiology; Neurosciences; Neurosurgery; Original Article; Parkinson Disease - complications; Parkinson's disease; Psychiatry; Sleep; Sleep and wakefulness; Sleep disorders; Sleep Wake Disorders - diagnosis; Sleep Wake Disorders - epidemiology; Sleep Wake Disorders - etiology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Tremor; Wilson's disease; Questionnaire study; Sleep disorders; Sleep quality; Wilson’s disease; Sleepiness
• ISSN: 1590-1874; 1590-3478; 1590-3478
• DOI: 10.1007/s10072-022-06401-4

Objective To examine the clinical characteristics and influencing factors related to sleep disorders in patients with Wilson’s disease (WD), and investigate its potential mechanisms. Methods A total of 150 patients with WD (76 hepatic, 42 neurological, 32 asymptomatic form) and 150 age- and sex-matched control subjects were investigated using 3 standardized sleep questionnaires. Differences among 3 subtypes were discussed. Results The mean Parkinson’s disease sleep scale (PDSS) score of WD was lower than the controls ( Z  =  − 4.426, P  = 0.000), and their mean Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) score as well as Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) score of WD was higher than that of the controls ( t  = 2.005, P  = 0.048; t  = 3.342, P  = 0.001). The incidence of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in WD group were significantly higher than the controls ( X 2  = 6.064, P  = 0.014). Further analysis showed that total PDSS score of neurologic presentation group was lower than others ( X 2  = 6.131, P  = 0.047), while the ESS score was higher ( F  = 3.817, P  = 0.029). UWDRS showed a negative correlation with PDSS ( r  =  − 0.440, P  = 0.022) and has a higher negative correlation with PDSS in neurologic presentation group ( r  =  − 0.732, P  = 0.000). Conclusions Patients with WD often suffer from sleep disturbances, mainly characterized by difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, nocturnal motor symptoms (numbness, cramps, tremor), and daytime dozing. And the incidence of EDS is significantly higher than that of the controls. Sleep quality is worse in patients with WD of neurologic presentation than the other two groups. Furthermore, the worse of the symptoms, patients with WD suffer more serious of the sleep disorders especially in neurologic presentation group.