Sleep patterns in adolescents with anorexia nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by self induced starvation, fear of adiposity and impaired body self image. There is evidence that some Anorexia Nervosa (AN) patients have sleep abnormalities. No studies of their sleep-wake cycles in a natural environment have yet been reported. The purpose of this study was to evaluate an objective and subjective sleep-wake cycle of AN patients compared to a healthy age-equated control group (CON). Twenty-one AN female and sixteen CON female subjects were recruited. Sleep-wake patterns were monitored using ambulatory monitoring, mini-actigraphs, for one week. Each subject completed self-report questionnaires. The self-report questionnaires revealed significantly more sleep disturbances in AN than CON, whereas the ambulatory sleep data revealed no significant differences between the two groups in Sleep - Wake cycle.