Table 3.

Impact of sleep disturbance in patients with RA

Type of sleep disturbance	Number of participants reporting (N = 31)	Representative quote
Difficulty finding a comfortable position	28	“It’s just that you have to take a lot of time, um, trying to do what’s comfortable for you, to even get an hour’s worth of sleep. So a lot of people use the wedge pillows for their knees, and things like that” (Female, age 51)
Difficulty staying asleep	26	“I get up every 2 hours, or 3 hours with the pain. Pop a pill, go back to bed.” (Female, age 61)
Difficulty falling asleep	21	“It’s the pain in my hands, that throbbing kind of pain that makes it difficult to go to sleep, but it doesn’t keep me from sleeping. It’s just the falling asleep part.” (Male, age 67)