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Sleep Disturbance in Neck Pain Patients: Implications to Pain Intensity and Disability

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Abstract

Objective

The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of sleep disturbance in neck pain (NP) patients and to evaluate the association between sleep quality, daytime sleepiness, pain, and disability in NP patients.

Methods

A cross-sectional study with a convenience sample was conducted among a sample of individuals who had reported that they suffered from mechanical NP and were ≥ 18 years of age. To examine the correlation between sleep quality, daytime sleepiness, pain and disability, Spearman’s rank correlation test was applied.

Results

A total of 376 NP patients were recruited, out of which 62.23% reported that they experienced sleep disturbances 95% CI [5.9–6.5] and 46.5% indicated that they had excessive daytime sleepiness 95% CI [9–10]. Both sleep disturbances and daytime sleepiness were more frequent among chronic NP patients than acute neck pain patients. A positive significant association was observed between sleep quality and the level of daytime sleepiness (r = .61, p < .05). We observed a significant association between sleep quality and pain intensity (r = .45, p < .05) as well as between daytime sleepiness and pain intensity (r = .37, p < 0.05). Conclusion: Sleep disturbance and daytime sleepiness are common among NP patients. It is essential to conduct further studies on the association between sleep parameters and pain to determine more clearly the degree of their dependence and direction of causality.

Trial Registration

CTRI/2019/09/021028, 2nd September 2019.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully thank all who participated in the study.

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia Central University, New Delhi, India

    Mosab M. Aldabbas, Tarushi Tanwar, Iram Iram & Zubia Veqar

  2. Independent Researcher, Dufferin Street, Toronto, ON, M6K 2B4, Canada

    David Warren Spence

  3. Somnogen Canada Inc., College Street, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Seithikurippu R. Pandi-Perumal

  4. Saveetha Medical College and Hospitals, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Saveetha University, Chennai, India

    Seithikurippu R. Pandi-Perumal

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  1. Mosab M. Aldabbas
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Correspondence to Zubia Veqar.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors have read the journal's policy and have the following potential conflicts: SRP is a stockholder and the President and Chief Executive Officer of Somnogen Canada Inc., a Canadian Corporation. He declares that he has no competing interests that might be perceived to influence the content of this article. This does not alter the authors’ adherence to all the journal policies.

All remaining authors declare that they have no proprietary, financial, professional, nor any other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product or services and/or company that could be construed or considered to be a potential conflict of interest that might have influenced the views expressed in this manuscript.

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The ethical approval for this research was granted by local Institutional Ethics Committees (19/2/210/JMI/IEC/2019).

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Aldabbas, M.M., Tanwar, T., Iram, I. et al. Sleep Disturbance in Neck Pain Patients: Implications to Pain Intensity and Disability. Sleep Vigilance 6, 349–357 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41782-022-00216-1

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