Sleep Disturbances in Patients with Alcohol Dependence with and without Tobacco Use

Background: sleep disorder is one of the important factors that may lead to an increase in the risk of relapse for people in the early phases of recovery from alcohol addiction. Despite the relevance of this problem, little is known about the sleep features in people with co-occurring alcohol and nicotine use. The aim of study was to investigate the inuence of the smoking factor on the dynamics of sleep characteristics in patients with alcohol dependence. Patients and methods: the 24-week prospective cohort study in 67 smokers (mean age 41 ± 9.2; 23.9% women) and 33 non-smokers (mean age 44 ± 8.2; 21.2% women) admitted to the addiction clinics to receive alcohol withdrawal treatment (ICD-10 code F10.2, dependence syndrome; F10.30, withdrawal syndrome). Sleep characteristics were assessed by self-report (Insomnia Severity Index, Pittsburgh Questionnaire) and by actigraphy watch. Results: a group of smokers experienced greater difculty in sleep initiation compared to non-smokers (61.2% vs 39.4%) (p ≤ 0.05). 

The duration and the quality of sleep increased over time of observation in both study groups (p < 0.001). Throughout the study sleep quality was poorer in smokers compared to non-smokers (17.3 vs 15.9 scores on the Insomnia Severity Index at the rst measurement and 2.6 vs 0.5 scores at the last assessment) (p < 0.001). The multivariate regression analysis revealed that the smoking was signicantly associated with poor sleep quality (F = 5.348, p = 0.021). Conclusion: smoking can predict poorer sleep quality during early remission in patients with alcohol dependence.

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