Pain Extent, Pain Intensity, and Sleep Quality in Adolescents and Young Adults

Abstract

Objectives: Pain has been shown to be associated with poor sleep quality. The aim of this study was to better understand the role that pain intensity and pain extent (number of painful areas) may play in the sleep quality of young people with acute and chronic pain.

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Setting and patients: A convenience sample of adolescents and young adults with acute or chronic pain; 414 individuals ages 12 to 24 (44% with chronic pain).

Methods: We performed a hierarchical regression analysis with sleep as the dependent variable and pain intensity, extent, age and pain chronicity as predictors.

Results: Pain extent and pain intensity made significant and independent contributions to the prediction of sleep quality (βs = 0.23 [P < 0.001] and 0.14 [P < 0.01]). Young adults reported poorer sleep than adolescents (β = 0.13, P < 0.01). Two significant interactions emerged: age × intensity (β = 0.39, P < 0.05) and chronicity × intensity (β = 0.88, P < 0.001).

Conclusions: Sleep quality in young people could be improved by teaching them strategies to better manage pain intensity and pain extent. Clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy of (and best timing for) pain interventions to improve sleep quality are warranted.

Keywords: Adolescents; Chronic Pain; Pain Extent; Pain Intensity; Sleep Quality; Young Adults.