Association of Sleep Quality Status With Worsening Low Back or Knee Pain During The COVID-19 State of Emergency Among Old-Old Adults.
Yuki Nakai, Hyuma Makizako, Daijo Shiratsuchi and 5 others
PMID 35123902WHAT IT FOUND
Among older adults with low back or knee pain, those who slept poorly during the COVID-19 emergency period reported pain worsening or new pain more often.
Asking about sleep may help identify patients at risk.
Key findings
01Poor sleep quality during the emergency period was associated with worsening low back or knee pain in the adjusted analysis.
02Pain-worsening participants reported poor sleep more often than non-worsening participants (23.9% vs 10.4%).
03Among 374 participants with low back or knee pain, 46 (12.3%) were in the group whose pain worsened or occurred during the emergency period.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional and based on people recalling what happened during the emergency, so it cannot show that poor sleep caused pain worsening. Pain, sleep quality, and exercise were measured with single simple questions rather than tested questionnaires, so answers may not capture severity or change accurately. The sample was older adults from one Japanese city, and people with stroke, Parkinson's disease, rheumatoid disease, depression, or Alzheimer's disease were excluded, so it may not apply to younger adults or people with those conditions. Only 597 of the 889 respondents were analyzed, and exclusions or missing answers may have changed who was represented. Anxiety was assumed but not measured, and naps, awakenings, and falling asleep were not considered. Low back and knee pain were not classified by duration, severity, or cause.
Declared interests
No competing interests were declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that improving sleep will reduce low back or knee pain. This study was cross-sectional and relied on recall, so it found an association, not a tested treatment effect.