Clinical sleep patterns in human immune virus infection

Abstract Clinical sleep patterns were recorded in 45 HIV +ve patients, using a 5‐item questionnaire concerned with: sleep onset, nocturnal wakings, early morning awakening, duration of sleep and well‐being on final waking. These were quantified to give a total ‘insomnia score’ and compared to matched normal controls. Sleep was significantly worse in the HIV patients in relation to: delayed onset and early morning awakening ( p < 0.5), nocturnal wakings and wellbeing on waking ( p < 0.0001), although not significant for duration of sleep. The mean total score for the HIV patients was 3.8 and for the controls 2.1 ( p < 0.0001). There was an almost significant correlation between insomnia score and duration HIV +ve ( p = 0.055). AIDS status did not affect the results but the insomnia score was greater in the absence of anti‐viral chemotherapy ( p = 0.052). In the controls insomnia severity almost correlated to stress ( p = 0.052). The results showed that the HIV patients had significantly more sleep disturbance than the matched controls, with resultant implications for improving quality of life in this respect.