OBJECTIVES: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) adversely affects many quality of life components, and is reported to impair sleep. The aim of this review was to determine the association between CLBP and sleep. METHODS: This review comprised 3 phases: an electronic database search (PubMed, Cinahl Plus, EMBASE, PsychInfo, Pedro, and Cochrane Library) identified potential articles; these were screened for inclusion criteria by 2 independent reviewers; extraction of data from accepted articles; and rating of internal validity by 2 independent reviewers and strength of the evidence using valid and reliable scales. RESULTS: The search generated 17 articles that fulfilled the inclusion criteria (quantitative n=14 and qualitative n=3). CLBP was found to relate to several dimensions of sleep including: sleep disturbance and duration (n=15), sleep affecting day-time function (n=5), sleep quality (n=4), sleep satisfaction and distress (n=4), sleep efficiency (n=4), ability to fall asleep (n=3), and activity during sleep (n=3). Consistent evidence found that CLBP was associated with greater sleep disturbance; reduced sleep duration and sleep quality; increased time taken to fall asleep; poor day-time function; and greater sleep dissatisfaction and distress. Inconsistent evidence was found that sleep efficiency and activity were adversely associated with CLBP. DISCUSSION: Many dimensions of sleep are adversely associated with CLBP. Management strategies for CLBP need to address these to maximize quality of life in this patient cohort. Language: en

The association between chronic low back pain and sleep: a systematic review.

Sleep and rheumatologic disorders

Two sets of contributory factors to depression among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are generally examined – the social context of the individual and the biologic disease state of that person’s RA. This article will review the evidence for both. RA affects patients both physically and psychologically. Comorbid depression is common with RA and leads to worse health outcomes. Low socioeconomic status, gender, age, race/ethnicity, functional limitation, pain and poor clinical status have all been linked to depression among persons with RA. Systemic inflammation may also be associated with, cause, or contribute to depression in RA. Understanding the socioeconomic factors, individual patient characteristics and biologic causes of depression in RA can lead to a more comprehensive paradigm for targeting interventions to eliminate depression in RA.

Depression in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: description, causes and mechanisms.

Objective

To examine the associations between arthritis and insomnia symptoms and unrefreshing sleep, as well as the role of pain as a mediator of these relationships.



Methods

Analyses were conducted on the cross-sectional, nationally representative, weighted sample of adults ≥18 years of age (n = 118,336) in the 2000/2001 Canadian Community Health Survey. Four logistic regression models were estimated for each sleep problem (model 1: arthritis only; model 2: model 1 + sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, and other chronic conditions; model 3: model 2 + mental health [stress, depression]; and model 4: model 3 + pain). Mediation by pain was quantified by the percentage change in the effect of arthritis on a particular sleep problem by comparing models 3 and 4.



Results

The prevalence of insomnia symptoms and unrefreshing sleep in persons with arthritis was 24.8% and 11.9%, respectively. These estimates are twice as high as those for persons without arthritis. In multivariate regression analyses, the addition of pain decreased the effect of arthritis by 53% (insomnia symptoms) and 64% (unrefreshing sleep). The effect of arthritis was still statistically significant in these models, suggesting that pain is a partial mediator of these relationships.



Conclusion

Insomnia symptoms and unrefreshing sleep affect a considerable proportion of individuals with arthritis. Pain mediates a substantial amount of the relationship between arthritis and sleep problems. Better pain management could significantly improve sleep in individuals with arthritis.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/art.21584

Pain as a mediator of sleep problems in arthritis and other chronic conditions.

https://orbilu.uni.lu/bitstream/10993/1673/1/RAT%20et%20al.%20Int%20J%20Clin%20Epidemio%202005.pdf

OAKHQOL: a new instrument to measure quality of life in knee and hip osteoarthritis.

Patients with osteoarthritis commonly complain of sleep disturbance that may be due to pain. Osteoarthritic hip pain is commonly alleviated by total hip arthroplasty (THA). Forty-eight patients waiting for THA completed a sleep questionnaire and were monitored using actigraphy and sleep diaries for 4 to 5 nights, 1 month before and 3 months after surgery. For the group as a whole, significant improvements were seen in subjective and objective measures of sleep after THA. In this study, 75% of participants reported that their sleep was never or rarely disturbed by hip pain after surgery. Actigraphy indicated significant reductions in time in bed and activity during sleep, more efficient sleep and less fragmented (restless) sleep. Differences between patients aged

B.M.F. Lewer

Papers

An assessment of sleep disturbance in patients before and after total hip arthroplasty.