Prevent insomnia to reduce pain of rheumatic conditions

People with musculoskeletal pain due to rheumatic conditions are at increased risk of insomnia, says research published in Rheumatology.
Many people with rheumatic conditions live in almost constant pain, and those who are also affected by insomnia often have worse health outcomes.
So a UK team examined the role of pain, physical limitation and reduced social participation in predicting the onset of insomnia. A total of 6,676 people aged 50 years or older were surveyed twice, once at the start of the study and again after three years.
Pain was found to increase the risk of insomnia onset at three years, even after adjusting for other factors such as age, gender, socioeconomic class, education, anxiety, depression and sleep.
People who were more physically limited and had reduced social participation explained up to 68% of the effect on insomnia onset in those experiencing a medium amount of pain, and 66% of the effect in those with widespread pain.
“There was a dose-response association between the extent of pain at baseline and insomnia onset at three years that was substantially mediated by physical limitation and reduced social participation,” the researchers say. “Targeting physical limitation and social participation in older people with pain may buffer comorbid insomnia, reducing the overall disease burden.”

Photo credit: Alyssa L. Miller