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The relationship between pain and sleep in pediatric sickle cell disease

Dakshin Padmanabhan1, Tiffany Tucker2, Donna Murdaugh1,3

  • 1Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.

Pediatric Blood & Cancer
|January 11, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Pain significantly disrupts sleep in children with sickle cell disease (SCD). Patient-reported outcomes reveal strong links between pain interference and sleep disturbances, underscoring the need for integrated care.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Hematology
  • Sleep Medicine
  • Pain Management

Background:

  • Sickle cell disease (SCD) frequently causes pain and sleep disturbances in children.
  • Understanding the relationship between pain and sleep is crucial for improving quality of life in pediatric SCD patients.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the associations between pain and sleep disturbances in pediatric SCD patients.
  • To characterize sleep chronotype and social jetlag in this population.

Main Methods:

  • A cross-sectional survey of 105 pediatric patients (aged 8-17) with SCD.
  • Utilized PROMIS (Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement System) for pain interference, sleep disturbance, and sleep-related impairment.
  • Assessed chronotype and social jetlag using the μMCTQ (Ultra-short Munich Chronotype Questionnaire).

Main Results:

  • Pain interference strongly correlated with sleep disturbance (r=0.49) and sleep-related impairment (r=0.46).
  • Female participants reported higher sleep-related impairment than males.
  • Patients with recent emergency department visits for pain experienced greater sleep disturbance and impairment.

Conclusions:

  • Pain interference is significantly associated with both sleep disturbance and sleep-related impairment in pediatric SCD.
  • PROMIS measures effectively identify patients with pain and sleep issues.
  • Further longitudinal studies are needed to establish causality between pain and sleep in SCD.
Abstract

Keywords:
PROMISchronotypepainsickle cell diseasesleepsocial jetlag

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