Sleep in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Objective Sleep Parameters

In a systematic review and meta-analysis of objective sleep parameters in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, it was found that RA patients have worse sleep measurements than recommended for Total Sleep Time (TST), Wake-After-Sleep-Onset (WASO), sleep efficiency, stage 1, and REM sleep. The study included 20 studies with a total of 677 RA patients, and 7 of these studies directly compared 147 RA patients with 121 healthy controls. The meta-analysis showed that RA patients had significantly worse objective sleep parameters compared to healthy controls, including shorter total sleep time, longer sleep latency, increased WASO, and reduced sleep efficiency. These findings suggest that clinicians should consider sleep health as an important factor in the overall care and well-being of RA patients. The study did not receive any specific support or funding.