Sleep has major impact on level of osteoarthritis pain – new study

Osteoarthritis is a chronic degenerative joint disorder that is characterised by joint pain. Some research suggests that many people with osteoarthritis have central sensitisation, a condition of the nervous system that is associated with the development and maintenance of chronic pain.
Insomnia is common in older people with osteoarthritis. And recent studies suggest associations between poor sleep and central sensitisation.
Catastrophizing, a strong predictor of pain outcomes, has been associated with central sensitisation too.

So experts asked 208 people to complete sleep assessments and evaluated their pain levels. There were four groups depending on if people had insomnia or knee osteoarthritis.

People with knee osteoarthritis and insomnia had the most central sensitisation, which implies that chronic pain may follow for this group.
People who didn’t sleep well and had high catastrophizing scores had increased levels of central sensitisation. And central sensitisation was associated with more pain.

“These findings highlight the importance of assessing sleep efficiency, central sensitisation and catastrophizing in chronic pain patients and have important clinical implications for treatment planning,” the researchers conclude.

Click here to read the original research.

Image credit: Petras Gagilas