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Disrupted sleep in patients with IBS—a wake-up call for further research?

Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology & Hepatology volume 4, pages 412–413 (2007)Cite this article

The prevalence of IBS in adults is 10–20% globally, and 60–70% of patients are women. IBS patients report sleep impairment, i.e. taking more time to fall asleep, waking up repeatedly from sleep, and feeling excessive sleepiness during the following day.1 Attempts to substantiate these subjective reports with objective data have, however, produced inconsistent results. Most studies have found little objective sleep-related evidence to support patients' complaints.

Sleep quality can be impaired by reduced total sleep time, sleep fragmentation (i.e. frequent arousals and awakenings), and increased duration of shallower sleep at the expense of deep sleep. Studies using polysomnography to monitor sleep in patients with IBS can help determine if their sleep is impaired; these studies can also investigate the effect of impaired sleep on IBS symptom severity and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and determine whether improvements in sleep quality can reduce IBS symptom severity and improve HRQOL.2

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. AD Sperber is a Senior Gastroenterologist at the Soroka Medical Center and an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.,

    Ami D Sperber

  2. A Tarasiuk is the Director of the Sleep-wake Disorders Unit at Soroka Medical Center and an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.,

    Ariel Tarasiuk

Authors
  1. Ami D Sperber
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  2. Ariel Tarasiuk
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Correspondence to Ami D Sperber.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Sperber, A., Tarasiuk, A. Disrupted sleep in patients with IBS—a wake-up call for further research?. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 4, 412–413 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpgasthep0847

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