Accelerometer-derived sleep metrics in mild and difficult-to-treat asthma

• Published in: Allergy, asthma, and clinical immunology Vol. 20; no. 1; p. 5
• Main Authors: Sharma, Varun, Ricketts, Helen Clare, Steffensen, Femke, Goodfellow, Anna, Buchan, Duncan S, Cowan, Douglas C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 14.01.2024; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Accelerometers; Asthma; Body mass index; Care and treatment; Comparative analysis; Difficult asthma; Efficiency; Health aspects; Letter to the Editor; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Mortality; Patients; Quality of life; Severe asthma; Sleep; Sleep disorders; Sleep medicine; Steroids; Variables; Weight control; United States > US; Accelerometers; Difficult asthma; Severe asthma; Sleep medicine; Asthma
• ISSN: 1710-1484; 1710-1492; 1710-1492
• DOI: 10.1186/s13223-024-00874-y

Poor sleep health is associated with increased asthma morbidity and mortality. Accelerometers have been validated to assess sleep parameters though studies using this method in patients with asthma are sparse and none have compared mild to difficult-to-treat asthma populations. We performed a retrospective analysis from two recent in-house trials comparing sleep metrics between patients with mild and difficult-to-treat asthma. Participants wore accelerometers for 24-hours/day for seven days. Of 124 participants (44 mild, 80 difficult-to-treat), no between-group differences were observed in sleep-window, sleep-time, sleep efficiency or wake time. Sleep-onset time was ~ 40 min later in the difficult-to-treat group (p = 0.019). Broadly, we observed no difference in accelerometer-derived sleep-metrics between mild and difficult-to-treat asthma. This is the largest analysis of accelerometer-derived sleep parameters in asthma and the first comparing groups by asthma severity. Sleep-onset initiation may be delayed in difficult-to-treat asthma but a dedicated study is needed to confirm.