Fatigue and Sleep in Children and Adolescents With Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: A Cross-Sectional Study

Fatigue and Sleep in Children and Adolescents With Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: A Cross-Sectional Study

The aims of this study is to primarily investigate fatigue and sleep and to secondarily examine possible relationships between disease activity, pain and functional ability in Turkish children and adolescents with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA).

Children with JIA become fatigued easily, experience joint inflammation, pain, limited mobility and report poor sleep quality and daytime sleepiness . It is reported in the literature that children with JIA suffer from poor sleep, parasomnias, daytime sleepiness, sleep fragmentation, cyclic alternating patterns increase, and sleep-disordered breathing compared to healthy children. Sleep was disturbed in almost half of the patients with both JIA and juvenile dermatomyositis, and that sleep disturbance and fatigue were both correlated with disease activity. Increased pain is associated with more sleep disturbance and more fatigue, and these appear to negatively influence quality of life.

So, in this study, fatigue and sleep in Turkish patients with JIA will be investigated by using specific surveys and also secondarily it will be examined possible relationships between disease activity, pain and functional ability in children and adolescents with JIA.

Inclusion Criteria:

Inclusion criteria consisted of a diagnosis of JIA according to the International League of Associations for Rheumatology (ILAR) criteria (13), being aged between 6 - 18 years, and being able to read and write in the Turkish language. All patients were diagnosed as JIA 6 months prior to the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients were excluded from study if they had a second rheumatic or another chronic disease, a history of mental deficit or psychological problem or no acceptance for participation in the study by their families.