Sleep hygiene a major factor in sleep disorders in adults with HIV/AIDS

The majority of adults living with HIV/AIDS need targeted intervention to help them sleep. That’s the conclusion of a new study appearing in the February edition of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. The study looked at 290 adults, ages 22 to 77, living with HIV. Researchers determined that environmental and sleep hygiene factors played a large role in the sleep disorders.

Nearly half of the men and women studied (45 percent) slept less than six hours each night. Thirty-four percent reported difficulty falling asleep, and 56 percent slept in fragments. Twenty percent had both problems. Only 30 percent were good sleepers.

Studies show that fragmented sleep occurs during chronic health conditions, sometimes unrealized by patients. Researchers said people who sleep in fragments rarely complain of insomnia. They do complain of daytime sleepiness or fatigue. This can lead to difficulty concentrating, poor thinking skills, depression symptoms and a loss in productivity.

Environmental and sleep hygiene factors may be critical in developing an effective intervention. The authors of this study recommended tailoring interventions to the specific type of sleep problem. They said less important were medical histories and things like age, weight, sex and income.

Read more about healthy sleep hygiene and treatments for sleep disorders. Or check out additional posts about sleep hygiene on the Sleep Education Blog.

Insomnia & HIV

Today is National HIV Testing Day. The CDC estimates that 1.1 million adults and teens in the U.S. were living with HIV at the end of 2006. Twenty-one percent of these people had not been diagnosed.

A review in the June 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine reports that insomnia is common in people with HIV. Some studies estimate that as many as 70 percent of people with HIV have insomnia at some point during their illness. Research also suggests that HIV may directly lead to changes in sleep.

Insomnia can reduce the quality of life of people who are HIV positive. It also can have a negative effect on their adherence to HIV treat­ment.

The review reports that few studies have evaluated insomnia treatments in people with HIV.

One study tested a five-week acupuncture intervention. It involved 21 HIV-positive men and women. They received a total of 10 treatments. Results show that sleep activity and sleep quality improved significantly.

Another study examined the effect of caffeine reduction on sleep quality. It involved 88 people who were HIV positive. Half of the participants reduced their caffeine intake by 90 percent or more for 30 days; the other half continued their usual caffeine consumption. Results show that caffeine reduction led to a 35 percent improvement in sleep quality.

The review also suggests that sleep medications may be useful for treating insomnia in people with HIV.

Read more about acupuncture for insomnia on the Sleep Education Blog. Learn more about insomnia due to medical condition on SleepEducation.com.