Patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA) have a high risk of sleep disturbances and disorders. The objective was to evaluate the evidence of non-pharmacological interventions targeting sleep disturbances or disorders in patients with IA.
A systematic search was undertaken from inception to September 8
Six trials (308 patients) were included in the quantitative synthesis; three of these reported improvement in sleep in favor of the non-pharmacological intervention(s). The meta-analysis of the sleep domains indicated a large clinical effect of -0.80 (95% CI, -1.33 to -0.28) in favor of non-pharmacological interventions targeting sleep disturbances or disorders. The estimate was rated down twice for risk of bias, and unexplained inconsistency; this was assessed as corresponding to low quality evidence. None of the secondary core outcomes used in contemporary IA trials indicated clinical benefit in favor of non-pharmacological interventions targeting sleep.
Non-pharmacological interventions targeting sleep disturbances/disorders in patients with IA indicated a promising effect on sleep outcomes, but not yet with convincing evidence.