The multidimensional sleep health of individuals with multiple sclerosis and Huntington's disease and healthy controls

Mitchell Turner; Madeline Griffiths; Manja Laws; Shayne Vial; Danielle Bartlett; Travis Cruickshank

doi:10.5664/jcsm.11052

The multidimensional sleep health of individuals with multiple sclerosis and Huntington's disease and healthy controls

J Clin Sleep Med. 2024 Jun 1;20(6):967-972. doi: 10.5664/jcsm.11052.

Authors

Mitchell Turner^{1

2}, Madeline Griffiths^{1

2}, Manja Laws^{1

2}, Shayne Vial^{1

2}, Danielle Bartlett¹, Travis Cruickshank^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia.
² Centre for Precision Health, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia.
³ Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Sciences, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.

PMID: 38305780
PMCID: PMC11145047 (available on 2025-06-01)
DOI: 10.5664/jcsm.11052

Abstract

Study objectives: Sleep issues are common for people with neurodegenerative conditions, yet research has focused on specific aspects of sleep. While important, a more holistic approach to investigating sleep, termed "sleep health," considers sleep's positive and negative aspects. Current studies exploring sleep health have lacked a control group for reference. For the first time, this study investigated the sleep health of people living with multiple sclerosis and Huntington's disease (HD) and compared it with a community sample.

Methods: 111 people, including 43 with multiple sclerosis, 19 with HD, and 49 from a community sample, participated in this study. The data, including actigraphy, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and Epworth Sleepiness Scale, were collected as part of ongoing research studies. Seven sleep health domains were determined from the collected data, and a composite sleep health score was developed. Analysis of variance and independent t tests were performed to identify population and sex differences.

Results: The HD group had higher sleep regularity and lower sleep rhythmicity than the multiple sclerosis and community sample groups. The HD group had significantly less sleep duration than the multiple sclerosis group. No significant differences between the groups were observed in the sleep health composite score. Males had significantly higher sleep regularity within the HD group but significantly lower sleepiness scores in the community sample.

Conclusions: These findings indicate that people with HD may experience greater variance in their wake times, therefore decreasing the consistency of being awake or asleep 24 hours apart. Understanding the mechanisms for this should be explored in people with HD.

Citation: Turner M, Griffiths M, Laws M, Vial S, Bartlett D, Cruickshank T. The multidimensional sleep health of individuals with multiple sclerosis and Huntington's disease and healthy controls. J Clin Sleep Med. 2024;20(6):967-972.

Keywords: neurological; sleep duration; sleep health; wake times.

MeSH terms

Actigraphy* / statistics & numerical data
Adult
Female
Humans
Huntington Disease* / complications
Huntington Disease* / physiopathology
Male
Middle Aged
Multiple Sclerosis* / complications
Multiple Sclerosis* / physiopathology
Sleep / physiology
Sleep Quality
Sleep Wake Disorders* / complications
Sleep Wake Disorders* / physiopathology