Sleep Disturbance Mediates the Association of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms and Pain in Patients With Cancer.
Teresa A Lillis, James Gerhart, Laura C Bouchard and 5 others
PMID 29084448WHAT IT FOUND
Among 85 cancer patients, sleep disturbance was linked to the association between PTSD symptoms and pain.
Pain, sleep and PTSD symptoms were all positively related. This was cross-sectional, so it does not prove treating sleep reduces pain.
Key findings
01Sleep disturbance explained part of the association between PTSD symptoms and pain intensity and pain interference.
02PTSD symptoms, sleep disturbance, pain intensity and pain interference were all positively related.
0364% of patients scored above the PCL-C cutoff of 30 for clinical PTSD symptoms.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The data were cross-sectional, so they cannot show that sleep disturbance caused pain or that PTSD symptoms caused sleep problems. The sample was small (85 patients), mostly female (89.3%) and made up of patients who self-referred for psychosocial support, so it may not represent all cancer patients. Information came from self-report and chart review, and the study did not adjust for depression, which overlaps with PTSD. The mediation models need prospective, longitudinal testing before they can be used to infer causal pathways.
Declared interests
None of the authors declared conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that improving sleep will reduce pain in cancer patients. The study was cross-sectional and tested associations, not a sleep treatment.