Chronic musculoskeletal pain prospectively predicts insomnia in older people, not moderated by age, gender or co-morbid illnesses

• Published in: Scientific reports 2021-01, Vol.11 (1), p.1593-1593, Article 1593
• Main Authors: Sit, Regina Wing Shan, Yip, Benjamin Hon Kei, Wang, Bo, Chan, Dicken Cheong Chun, Zhang, Dexing, Wong, Samuel Yeung Shan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 692/308; 692/700; Age; Age Factors; Aged; Case-Control Studies; Chronic pain; Chronic Pain - complications; Chronic Pain - pathology; Comorbidity; Female; Gender; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Insomnia; Linear Models; Male; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; Musculoskeletal Pain - complications; Musculoskeletal Pain - pathology; Older people; Pain; Prospective Studies; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Severity of Illness Index; Sleep disorders; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders - complications; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders - pathology
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-81390-6

The study evaluated if chronic musculoskeletal (MSK) pain predicts the severity of insomnia, and whether the effect is moderated by age, gender, and number of comorbid diseases in older people. An 18-month prospective study was performed within the framework of a community health program in Hong Kong. A total of 498 older people aged ≥ 60 with multimorbidity were recruited. The predictors included the presence of chronic MSK pain, pain measured by the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), insomnia measured by baseline Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), and number of co-morbid diseases, age, and gender. The outcome was ISI repeated at 18 months. The moderators included age, gender, and number of comorbid diseases. Multivariate linear regression and moderation analysis were conducted. We found that the presence of chronic MSK pain (β = 1.725; 95% CI, 0.607–2.842; P