Objective:

To assess the relationship between sleep quality and perceived stress in patients with peripheral neuropathy.

Background:

The role of sleep in the modulation of pain is well established, and there is evidence to suggest that the treatment of disordered sleep in patients with neuropathic pain may improve pain perception. However, studies examining the drivers of impaired sleep and social determinants of health in patients with peripheral neuropathy are limited.

Design/Methods:

The relationships between disordered sleep, pain perception, and neuropathic symptoms were examined cross-sectionally in 24 subjects with peripheral neuropathy diagnosed by a neurologist. For each subject validated scales including the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)), pain perception (Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS)), and neuropathic symptoms (Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument (MNSI) were compare to the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)

Results:

75% of participants enrolled were female (18/24) and 16.7% identified as non-white (4/24) with a mean age of 66.9 years (SD ∓ 10.5). Greater stress as measured by the Perceived Stress Scale was associated with worse sleep quality in univariate analysis with the PSQI (p=0.017). Further analysis adjusting for age, sex, race, history of major depression, PCS, and PSS still demonstrated a cross-sectional association in these participants with distal symmetric polyneuropathy (p=0.009)

Conclusions:

We demonstrate a strong association between perceived stress and worse sleep quality in a sample of participants with peripheral neuropathy.  Disturbed sleep is modifiable and an improved understanding of the drivers of impaired sleep examining social determinants of health has important implications for developing target interventions that treat sleep impairment and neuropathic pain.