A good night's sleep: pain trajectories and sleep disturbance in children with cerebral palsy.

STUDY OBJECTIVES

Sleep quality is important during childhood and adolescence. Given the high prevalence of pain in children/youth with cerebral palsy, we aimed to measure the association between short-term pain trajectories and sleep disturbance in these individuals.

METHODS

We accrued the cohort between November 2019 and October 2020 and recruited children/youth who (1) were 8-18 years old; (2) had cerebral palsy with any Gross Motor Function Classification System level; and (3) could self-report pain and sleep disturbance. We collected self-reported baseline and weekly follow-up data using electronic questionnaires completed every week for 5 weeks. Sleep disturbance at 5 weeks was the primary outcome (pediatric Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System short form, v1.0-4a). We used general linear regression to assess the association between pain intensity trajectory group and sleep disturbance controlling for confounders.

RESULTS

A total of 190 individuals were eligible; 102 were enrolled and 89 were included in our final analysis. Pain trajectory groups had estimated crude mean sleep disturbance scores at 5 weeks ranging from 56.0 (95% confidence interval, 51.8, 60.8) to 61.8 (55.7, 67.9). Compared to those with stable, no/very mild pain, those in the stable, high-pain group had the greatest sleep disturbance (adjusted β = 5.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.2, 10.2).

CONCLUSIONS

Irrespective of pain trajectory, children and youth with cerebral palsy reported sleep disturbances. Those with a stable, high pain intensity in the previous 5 weeks reported the greatest sleep disturbance. The results highlight the importance of considering pain trajectories and their impact on sleep in children with cerebral palsy.

CITATION

Shearer HM, Côté P, Hogg-Johnson S, Fehlings DL. A good night's sleep: pain trajectories and sleep disturbance in children with cerebral palsy. . 2024;20(5):719-726.