Fatigue, sleep disorder intensify pain of hip osteoarthritis

Poor sleep quality and greater fatigue may worsen pain in individuals with symptomatic hip osteoarthritis (OA), results of a recent study have shown.

The authors evaluated the association of sleep quality, sleep duration and fatigue with hip pain exacerbations in people with symptomatic OA. A total of 252 participants completed the online questionnaires at 10-day intervals (control periods) and were followed for 90 days. Hip pain exacerbation (case periods) was defined as an increase of 2 points in pain intensity compared with baseline on a numeric rating scale (0–10).

The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was used to assess subjective sleep quality and sleep duration and the Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue to measure fatigue in both periods. Associations were assessed using univariable and multivariable conditional logistic regressions.

Of the participants, 130 (52 percent) were included in the final analysis. Both poor sleep quality and greater fatigue correlated with a higher likelihood of pain exacerbations (odds ratio [OR], 1.72, 95 percent confidence interval (CI), 1.04–2.86 and OR, 1.92, 95 percent CI, 1.21–3.05, respectively) in univariate analysis. Short sleep duration, however, was not related to pain exacerbations.

Multivariate analysis also showed the association of poor sleep quality and greater fatigue with pain exacerbations after adjustment for physical activity and night pain levels. No significant interaction was seen between sleep quality and fatigue (p=0.21).

“Sleep disorders and fatigue should be considered when dealing with pain exacerbations,” according to the authors.