Evaluation of the sleep quality in patients with familial mediterranean fever

Background: Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) is a hereditary autoimmune disorder characterised by acute attacks of fever and serosal inflammation. This study aimed to investigate sleep quality in patients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). Methods: The study involved 86 patients. The patients were enrolled in the study during an attack-free period. The sleep quality of all the patients was evaluated by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Results: The PSQI total score was 6.5±4 and the prevalence of poor sleepers was 50% (43/86) according the PSQI total score in this study. Women with a higher number of attacks per year and patients resistant to the colchicine treatment had a poorer sleep quality (p<0.05). Conclusions: This study underlines the need to assess and manage sleep problems in patients with FMF. Poor sleep quality cause other symptoms of the disease to aggravate. So, the physician must also assess the sleep quality when questioning the routine complaints of the patients with FMF.