Exercise and obstructive sleep apnoea: a 24-week follow-up study

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Sleep Characteristics in Adults With and Without Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain. The Role of Mental Distress and Pain Catastrophizing

Objectives: Sleep disturbance is associated with persistence and exacerbation of chronic pain. As this relationship seems to be bidirectional, factors underpinning sleep disturbance may prove important in multimodal rehabilitation approaches. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine the impact of psychological symptoms on subjective and objective sleep measures in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP), as compared with pain-free controls. Materials and Methods: Sleep was assessed by self-report questionnaires, actigraphy, and polysomnography recordings in 56 patients (75.0% female; Mage=41.7 y, SD=10.8 y) with CMP and compared with 53 matched pain-free controls (71.7% female; Mage=41.8 y, SD=10.7). Mental distress (Hopkins Symptoms Checklist [HSCL]) and Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) were tested as predictors of objective and subjective sleep measures in multiple regression models, and their indirect effects were tested in bootstrapped mediation models. Results: The sleep data revealed substantially more subjective sleep disturbance (Hedge g: 1.32 to 1.47, P<0.001), moderately worse sleep efficiency in the actigraphy measures (Hedges g: 0.5 to 0.6, P<0.01), and less polysomnography measured slow wave sleep (Hedges g: 0.43, P<0.05) in patients, as compared with controls. HSCL was strongly associated with the self-reported measures Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). HSCL also partially explained the association between pain and sleep, but HSCL was not associated with any of the objective sleep measures. More pain catastrophizing was related to less slow wave sleep. Discussion: The differences in subjective and objective sleep measures indicate that they probe different aspects of sleep functioning in patients with musculoskeletal pain, and their combined application may be valuable in clinical practice. Self-reported sleep disturbance seems to overlap with affective dimensions reflected by the HSCL questionnaire

The impact of extended electrodiagnostic studies in Ulnar Neuropathy at the elbow

Background: This study aimed to explore the value of extended motor nerve conduction studies in patients with ulnar nerve entrapment at the elbow (UNE) in order to find the most sensitive and least time-consuming method. We wanted to evaluate the utility of examining both the sensory branch from the fifth finger and the dorsal branch of the ulnar nerve. Further we intended to study the clinical symptoms and findings, and a possible correlation between the neurophysiological findings and pain. Methods: The study was prospective, and 127 UNE patients who were selected consecutively from the list of patients, had a clinical and electrodiagnostic examination. Data from the most symptomatic arm were analysed and compared to the department's reference limits. Student's t - test, chi-square tests and multiple regression models were used. Two-side p-values < 0.05 were considered as significant. Results: Ulnar paresthesias (96%) were more common than pain (60%). Reduced ulnar sensitivity (86%) and muscle strength (48%) were the most common clinical findings. Adding a third stimulation site in the elbow mid-sulcus for motor conduction velocity (MCV) to abductor digiti minimi (ADM) increased the electrodiagnostic sensitivity from 80% to 96%. Additional recording of ulnar MCV to the first dorsal interosseus muscle (FDI) increased the sensitivity from 96% to 98%. The ulnar fifth finger and dorsal branch sensory studies were abnormal in 39% and 30% of patients, respectively. Abnormal electromyography in FDI was found in 49% of the patients. Patients with and without pain had generally similar conduction velocity parameter means. Conclusion: We recommend three stimulation sites at the elbow for MCV to ADM. Recording from FDI is not routinely indicated. Sensory studies and electromyography do not contribute much to the sensitivity of the electrodiagnostic evaluation, but they are useful to document axonal degeneration. Most conduction parameters are unrelated to the presence of pain

Sleep quality with WHO Step III opioid use for cancer pain

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Continuous positive airway pressure in cluster headache: A randomized, placebo-controlled, triple-blind, crossover study

Background - Oxygen inhalation aborts cluster headache attacks, and case reports show the effect of continuous positive airway pressure. The aim of this study was to investigate the prophylactic effect of continuous positive airway pressure in chronic cluster headache. Methods - This was a randomized placebo-controlled triple-blind crossover study using active and sham continuous positive airway pressure treatment for chronic cluster headache. Patients entered a one month’s baseline period before randomly being assigned to two months’ active continuous positive airway pressure treatment followed by a four weeks’ washout period and two months’ sham continuous positive airway pressure or vice versa. Primary outcome measure was number of cluster headache attacks/week. Results - Of the 30 included participants (12 males, median age 49.5 years, min-max 20–66 years), 25 completed both treatment/sham cycles (two discontinued, three lost to follow-up). The median number of cluster headache attacks per week was reduced from 8.25 (0.75–89.75) attacks to 6.25 (0–56.00) attacks for active continuous positive airway pressure and to 7.50 (0.50–43.75) attacks for sham continuous positive airway pressure, but there was no difference in active versus sham (p = 0.904). One patient had a serious adverse event during active treatment, none occurred during sham treatment. Conclusions - Continuous positive airway pressure treatment did not reduce the number of cluster headache attacks compared to sham treatment in chronic cluster headache patients

Clinical outcomes after treatment of multiple lesions with zotarolimus-eluting versus sirolimus-eluting coronary stents (a SORT OUT III substudy)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Data on clinical outcomes among patients treated with the zotarolimus-eluting Endeavor™ stent versus the sirolimus-eluting Cypher™ stent favor the sirolimus-eluting stent. However, a separate comparison of clinical outcome among patients treated for multiple lesions with these stents is lacking. We performed this comparison within the SORT OUT III trial data set.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Among 2332 patients randomized in SORT OUT III, 695 were treated for multiple lesions with zotarolimus-eluting (n = 350) or sirolimus-eluting (n = 345) stents and followed for 18 months. Major adverse cardiac events (MACE); composite of cardiac death, myocardial infarction, or target vessel revascularization (TVR); was the primary endpoint.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Zotarolimus-eluting compared to sirolimus-eluting stent treatment was associated with increased MACE rate (13.2% vs. 2.6%; hazard ratio 5.29 with 95% confidence interval: 2.59-10.8). All secondary endpoints; all cause death, cardiac death, myocardial infarction, TVR, target lesion revascularization, in-stent restenosis, and definite stent thrombosis; were observed more frequently among zotarolimus-eluting stent treated patients. For all endpoints, hazard ratios were 1.6 to 4.6 times higher than in the overall results of the SORT OUT III trial.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We observed better clinical outcomes among patients treated for multiple lesions with the sirolimus-eluting stent compared to those treated with the zotarolimus-eluting stent.</p

The headache-sleep study:: Sleep and pain thresholds in healthy controls and patients with migraine and tension type headache

Background Headache can be relieved or released during sleep, but there are few polysomnograpic (PSG) studies on headache patients. Our aim was to evaluate subjective and objective sleep, affective symptoms and pain thresholds (PT) in patients with tension type headache (TTH) and migraine and healthy controls. Methods All results are based on a blinded study comparing data in headache patients and controls regarding polysomnography, measurements of PT, data from headache and sleep diaries and questionnaires. We included 20 patients with TTH, 50 migraineurs and 34 healthy controls. Migraineurs who had their sleep recording more than two days from an attack were classified as interictal (n=33) while those registered 2 days or less from an attack were classified as either preictal (n=9) or postictal (n=8). Migraineurs with attack onset mainly during night or by awakenings was classified as sleep related migraine (SM) and compared to migraineurs without a preference for nightly attacks (non-sleep related migraine (NSM)). TTH patients were classified either as episodic TTH (ETTH) or chronic (CTTH) if headache days per month respectively were <15 or &nbsp; ≥15. Results All headache groups had more anxiety symptoms, more subjective sleep disturbances than controls, but sleep diaries revealed no sleep time differences. Migraineurs recorded in the preictal phase had shorter latency to sleep onset than migraineurs registered in the interictal phase. Both TTH and NSM patients had findings consistent with foregoing sleep deprivation i.e. more slow wave sleep in PSG, more frequent subjective daytime tiredness and a tendency to lower PT than healthy controls. SM patients had findings consistent with slightly reduced sleep quality in PSG, but not increased frequency of daytime tiredness or reduced PT. Conclusions Based on data in this thesis headache patients with attack onset during daytime may need more sleep than healthy controls. Subjects with SM had findings indicating slightly disturbed sleep. However, since no specific clinically relevant disturbing factor was detected, an increased sensitivity to slight subclinical sleep disturbances might be characteristic for patients with headache onset during sleep

Answer to comment on "sleep quality, arousal and pain thresholds in migraineurs: a blinded controlled polysomnographic study"

We discuss the comments on our article “Sleep quality, arousal and pain thresholds in migraineurs. A blinded controlled polysomnographic study” published in JHP 2013 Feb 14;14(1):12. We hypothesize that migraineurs need more sleep than healthy controls and more sleep than they manage to achieve. Some migraineurs probably have a decreased ability to process incoming stimuli. Increased spontaneous pain may follow either sleep restriction or sleep disturbance. A comparison of migraineurs with attack onset related to sleep, migraineurs with attack onset not related to sleep and controls will be reported in another paper

The impact of headache and chronic musculoskeletal complaints on the risk of insomnia: longitudinal data from the Nord-Trøndelag health study

Background A strong relationship between insomnia and painful disorders has been found, but it is still unclear whether chronic pain leads to insomnia. There is a need of large-scale prospective studies to evaluate if there is a causal relationship between painful disorders and insomnia. Methods All inhabitants aged ≥ 20 years in Nord-Trøndelag County of Norway were invited to participate in two surveys (n = 92,566 and 93,860, respectively). 27,185 subjects participated in both surveys, and 19,271 of these were insomnia-free at baseline (population at risk). Using logistic regression, we evaluated the influence of headache, CMSCs and coexisting headache and CMSCs on the subsequent risk of insomnia. Results Compared to subjects without headache and CMSCs, there was an increased risk of insomnia among those with headache, most pronounced among those with headache ≥ 7 days / month (OR = 2.2, 95% CI = 1.9 – 2.6). Similarly, an increased risk among those with CMSCs was found, most evident for those with widespread CMSCs (OR = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.8 – 2.2). Having coexistent CMSCs and headache (OR = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.8 – 2.2) predisposed more strongly to insomnia than having headache (OR = 1.5, 95% CI = 1.3 – 1.6) and CMSCs (OR = 1.6, 95% CI = 1.4 – 1.7) alone. Conclusion In this prospective study headache and CMSCs were risk factors for insomnia 11 years later