Association between chronic pain and sleep and the quality of life in
elderly community members
Abstract
Background: Chronic pain and poor sleep quality are biopsychosocial
changes that are associated with human aging and have a bidirectional
correlation. The objective was to evaluate the association between
chronic pain and quality of sleep and quality of life of elderly people.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study with a correlational
quantitative approach on the association of chronic pain with the
quality of sleep and quality of life of elderly people in the community.
The evaluation was carried out using sociodemographic, clinical and
anthropometric questionnaires, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, visual
analogue scale, cognitive impairment, quality of life, and functional
mobility. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed. The means
between the groups were compared using the Student’s t-test for
independent samples, using the Spearman correlation coefficient (ρ) to
test the associations and one-way analysis of variance to compare the
means between the three age groups. Results: This study included 131
elderly people, predominantly female (87%), with an average age of 68 ±
7 years, low income per capita (84.8% ≤2 MW), and low education (86.3%
≤3 years of study). The elderly with a history of chronic pain had worse
quality of sleep and quality of life than those without chronic pain.
There was a moderate (ρ = 0.590) and significant (p <0.01)
positive correlation between sleep quality and chronic pain intensity,
and a moderate (ρ = -0.57) and significant (p <0.01)
correlation between quality of life and the intensity of chronic pain.
Conclusion: Elderly people with chronic pain have worse quality of sleep
and quality of life than those without chronic pain. We also found that
the greater the number of chronic diseases, the worse the quality of
sleep and quality of life. Trial Registration: Registro Brasileiro de
Ensaios Clínicos (REBEC) Identifier: RBR-3cqzfy Keywords: Elderly;
sleep; chronic pain; quality of life.