Sleep quality in the elderly with and without chronic pain

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Brazil has been experiencing rapid aging of its population. Aging, even without chronic diseases, involves some functional loss, which is expressed by reduction in vigor, strength, readiness, metabolic efficiency, and often pain, which can lead to fatigue and sleep changes. Sleep quality is essential for the physical and emotional well-being of elderly individuals. The objective of this study was to evaluate the sleep quality among elderly with and without chronic pain that live in a town in Santa Catarina State. METHODS: Interviews with 385 senior citizens living in the urban area of a town in Santa Catarina. The research tools used in the data collection were the Mini-Mental State Examination, an instrument adapted from Morais, the visual numerical scale and the Pittsburgh questionnaire. RESULTS: Among the elderly interviewed, females (67.27%, n=259) and the 60-69 years age group (45.45%, n=175) prevailed. Among the 385 elderlies, 58.18% (n=224) had chronic pain, predominantly of moderate intensity (48.66%, n=109). Among the elderly with pain, 57.59% (n=129) presented poor sleep quality; among those without pain, 56.52% (n=91) had good sleep quality. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that the intensity of pain, number of chronic self-reported diseases and age group are factors that influence the sleep quality of the elderly, thus indicating the importance of health professionals working in this context with new studies and resources.

Validation of the geriatric sleep questionnaire

“…Likewise, sleep disorders become more frequent in older people [5,6,14]. Risk factors for sleep disorders in old age include gender, being more common in women [7,[15][16][17]; older age [18,19]; lower education [20,21]; loneliness, institutionalization, social isolation [10,16,22,23]; less functionality [23,24]; chronic diseases [25][26][27]; and medication use [5,7,10].…”

Prevalência de dor crônica em idosos: revisão integrativa da literatura / Prevalence of chronic pain in the older adults: an integrative literature review

“…Outra correlação evidenciada é a questão da qualidade do sono, a qual interfere de maneira direta no dia a dia da população em questão (32). Ao avaliar a qualidade do sono em 385 idosos com dores crônicas residentes em um município de Santa Catarina, Ferreti e Santos (33) observaram um resultado mais relevante em mulheres quando comparado aos homens (34).…”

Pain and sleeping problems in the elderly

“…CP has been considered an impacting factor in the life of the elderly, with a probable relationship between pain and difficulty in falling asleep. Ferretti et al 33 in order to evaluate the quality of sleep in 385 elderly, with and without chronic pain, identified that 58.18% of the elderly had CP, and 57.59% scored poor sleep quality., of the elderly with CP, 48.66% reported moderate pain intensity, in contrast to the elderly without CP (56.52%) who had good sleep quality. A study conducted in São Luís, MA, with 50 elderly, identified the negative influence of CP on QoL of the respondents, noting a strong relationship with fatigue, sleep disorders and dependence on treatments or drugs 34 .…”