The relationship between pain severity and sleep quality: Posttube thoracostomy

The presence of a chest tube is a factor significantly associated with pain and pain posttube thoracostomy that negatively affects sleep quality (SQ).

To determine the relationship between the pain severity and SQ of patients who underwent the tube thoracostomy (TT).

This was a descriptive and cross-sectional survey conducted from May 1, 2018, to December 30, 2018, in the thoracic surgery department of Sivas Cumhuriyet University Hospital in Central Anatolia/Turkey. Data were collected using a questionnaire form, a Numerical Rating Scale to determine pain severity, and the Richard-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire to assess SQ.

The study was carried out with 102 patients who underwent the TT. The mean age of the participants were 48.94 years. The mean scores for the scale items indicated that during the procedure and on the first day of post-TT, the pain severity of the patients was very high, their SQ was low. Pain level decreased gradually in the following days, and the SQ increased. There was a positive, strong correlation between the post-TT first day pain and first night SQ (r = 0.380, p = 0.000), second day pain and second night SQ (r = -0.537, p = 0.000), and third day pain and third night SQ (r = -0.507, p = 0.000).

The results of this study highlight that the pain severity of post-TT significantly affect the quality of the patients' night sleep.