Sleep quality and presleep arousal in chronic pain

This study was designed (I) to characterize the extent and nature of sleep complaints of chronic pain patients and (2) to examine the factors that pre dict sleep quality. A heterogeneous sample of 51 outpatients with benign, c hronic pain was recruited from newspaper and pain clinic advertisements. Pa tients completed a variety of self-report instruments including the Multidi mensional Pain Inventory, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, the Pre-Sleep Arousal Scale, and the Beck Depression Inventory. Sleep complaints were re ported by 88% of the sample. Presleep cognitive arousal, rather than pain s everity, was found to be the primary predictor of sleep quality.