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Abstract
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OBJECTIVE: To examine the prevalence of poor sleep quality in adults with pediatric-onset spinal cord injury (SCI) and to assess the clinical correlates.
METHOD: Participants completed interviews that included demographic information and standardized measures of sleep (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), physical (12-item Short-Form Health Survey, Version 2), mental (Beck Anxiety Inventory and Patient Health Questionnaire), and psychosocial well-being (Satisfaction With Life Scale). The study included 177 individuals between the ages of 19 and 50 years (M = 33.5 years, SD = 7.1) who sustained a, SCI prior to age 19 (M = 13.5 years, SD = 4.6) and had been injured for at least 1 year (M = 19.5 years, SD = 8. 2). Participants were recruited from 1 of 3 pediatric SCI programs in the United States and were predominantly male (62%) and White (84%).
RESULTS: Sleep difficulties were fairly common, with half of participants self-reporting poor sleep quality within the last month (n = 91 [51.4%]). Both increased age (r =.20, p =.008) and tetraplegia, F(1, 175) = 6.62, p =.011, were significantly associated with poor sleep. Activity-interfering pain (r =.57, p <.001) and general health (r =.37, p <.001) were also strongly associated with poor sleep. Even after accounting for age, injury level, and pain as control variables, sleep quality explained a small, but significant, portion of the variance in depression (R2 =.06, p <.001) and anxiety (R2 =.04, p =.005), but not life satisfaction (R2 =.02, p =.075).
CONCLUSION: These results suggest that adults with pediatric-onset SCI report more sleep difficulties than the standardization sample and that sleep is significantly associated with physical and psychological functioning. Consequently, better measures to detect and treat sleep problems among those with pediatric-onset SCI are recommended. (PsycINFO Database Record
Language: en |