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Does Sleep Differ Among Patients with Common Musculoskeletal Pain Disorders?

  • Rheumatic Manifestations of Other Diseases (Roland Staud, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Most patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain report poor-quality sleep. The impact of chronic pain on sleep can be described as a vicious circle with mutual deleterious influences between pain and sleep-associated symptoms. It is difficult, however, to extract quantitative or consistent and specific sleep variables (eg, total sleep time, slow-wave sleep, sleep stage duration) that characterize the pain-related disruption of sleep. Comorbidity (eg, fatigue; depression; anxiety, sleep, movement, or breathing disorders) often confounds the reading and interpretation of sleep traces. Furthermore, many other methodologic issues complicate our ability to generalize findings (low external validity) to first-line medicine. Because sleep alterations in common musculoskeletal pain are neither specific nor pathognomonic, the aim is to provide a critical overview of the current understanding of pain and sleep interaction, discussing evidence-based and empiric knowledge that should be considered in further research and clinical applications.

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Acknowledgment

The work of the principal author is supported by the Canada Research Chair program, CIHR, CFI, Canadian Government, and by the Quebec Pain Research Network of the FRSQ, Quebec Government. Dr. Carra holds a fellowship from the Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport du Quebec.

Disclosure

Dr. Lavigne served as a speaker at congress paid by UCB and has served as a consultant for Pfizer Canada and Philips Respironics. Drs. Nashed, Manzini, and Carra reported no potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculté de médecine dentaire, Université de Montréal, CP 6128, succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal, Québec, H3C 3J7, Canada

    Gilles J. Lavigne, Angela Nashed, Christiane Manzini & Maria Clotilde Carra

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  1. Gilles J. Lavigne
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  2. Angela Nashed
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Correspondence to Gilles J. Lavigne.

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Lavigne, G.J., Nashed, A., Manzini, C. et al. Does Sleep Differ Among Patients with Common Musculoskeletal Pain Disorders?. Curr Rheumatol Rep 13, 535–542 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11926-011-0209-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11926-011-0209-3

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