A brief cognitive-behavioral intervention for sleep in individuals with chronic noncancer pain: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Purpose/objective: Chronic pain has a significant negative impact on the quality of life, including sleep disruption. There is compelling evidence that cognitive-behavioral therapy can be effective in treating sleep disorders. To our knowledge, no research has been carried out on brief cognitive-behavioral educational interventions in individuals with chronic pain. This study was conducted to determine whether a brief education session that incorporates sleep hygiene and cognitive-behavioral strategies would help improve the sleep of individuals with chronic pain.

Research method/design: Eighty-five patients from a tertiary care Multidisciplinary Pain Centre completed all aspects of the study. This sample was randomized into 2 groups: a treatment group who received a brief cognitive-behavioral educational session, and a control group who did not. All participants completed a daily sleep diary for 28 days. Measures on sleep quality, beliefs and attitudes about sleep, pain, disability, and mood were recorded at baseline.

Results: No significant differences were found between groups on demographic, pain, disability, mood measures, or sleep quality at baseline. Overall, 42% of the individuals who completed this study had depression scores above the clinical cutoff. This sample reported a high level of pain-related disability. Individuals in the treatment group had significantly reduced sleep onset latency compared to controls. No significant differences between groups on the number of times waking or hours slept.

Conclusions/implications: Our findings suggest that there is potential for a brief educational intervention to have a positive impact on some aspects of sleep in the chronic pain population.