Vasculitis & polymyalgia rheumatica
More Than Pain and Stiffness: Persistent Fatigue and Sleep Disturbance in Polymyalgia Rheumatica
Authors' conclusion
Patients with PMR experience a disproportionate degree of fatigue and sleep disturbance, which persists almost 2 years after starting treatment.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with recently diagnosed polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) (2012 EULAR/ACR criteria) and matched controls
- Participants
- 36 vs 32
- Exposure
- Recently diagnosed PMR vs age- and gender-matched controls
- PMRn = 36
- Controlsn = 32reference
- Outcome
- Fatigue (Bristol RA Fatigue Multidimensional Questionnaire, SF-36 vitality scale) and sleep disturbance (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index)
- Follow-up
- 3 months after starting GC and 18 months later
Methodological detailsage- and gender-matched controls, 18-month follow-up
- Age- and gender-matched controls
- 18-month follow-up
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Severe fatigue · baseline and follow-up
Severe fatigue · baseline and follow-up
Follow-up
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Poor sleep quality · baseline and follow-up
Follow-up
- Poor sleep quality: controls 56% at both timepoints
Factors associated with severe fatigue
- Higher BMI and fat mass index, anxiety, depression, PMR Activity Score, inflammatory markers, pain and stiffness all associated with severe fatigue
Factors associated with poor sleep
- No significant associations with poor sleep
PMR disease activity
- Low at both visits
Original publication
More Than Pain and Stiffness: Persistent Fatigue and Sleep Disturbance in Polymyalgia Rheumatica. J Rheumatol. Published 1 April 2025. doi:10.
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