Self-reported sleep and mood disturbance in chronic pain patients

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of self-reported sleep disturbance an d its relationship to mood disturbance in chronic pain patients. Design and Setting: Survey of patients referred to a multidisciplinary outp atient pain clinic. Patients: The sample consisted of 105 consecutive patients (59 men and 46 w omen), with an average age of 41.5 (SD +/- 13.4) years. Measures: Self-report measures of sleep disturbance and visual analog scale s of mood disturbance (anxiety and depression) and pain experience (intensi ty and unpleasantness). Results: Patients were grouped according to whether they considered themsel ves "poor" (n = 68) or "good" (n = 37) sleepers. Poor sleepers reported mor e difficulties initiating and maintaining sleep and greater pain intensity and pain unpleasantness than did good sleepers. The two groups did not diff er on measures of depressive or anxious mood. Conclusion: The results suggest that sleep disturbance is a prevalent compl aint in chronic pain patients, but it is not always associated with an unde rlying mood disturbance.