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Effect of prescribed sleep surfaces on back pain and sleep quality in patients diagnosed with low back and shoulder pain

PainSci » bibliography » Jacobson et al 2010
updated
Tags: etiology, treatment, back pain, biomechanics, sleep, pro, pain problems, spine

Two articles on PainSci cite Jacobson 2010: 1. The Complete Guide to Low Back Pain2. 6 Main Causes of Morning Back Pain

original abstract Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.

The purpose of this study was to assess sleep quality and comfort of participants diagnosed with low back pain and stiffness following sleep on individually prescribed mattresses based on dominant sleeping positions. Subjects consisted of 27 patients (females, n=14; males, n=13; age 44.8 yrs ± SD 14.6, weight 174 lb. ± SD 39.6, height 68.3 in. ± SD 3.7) referred by chiropractic physicians for the study. For the baseline (pretest) data subjects recorded back and shoulder discomfort, sleep quality and comfort by visual analog scales (VAS) for 21 days while sleeping in their own beds. Subsequently, participants' beds were replaced by medium-firm mattresses specifically layered with foam and latex based on the participants' reported prominent sleeping position and they again rated their sleep comfort and quality daily for the following 12 weeks. Analysis yielded significant differences between pre- and post means for all variables and for back pain, we found significant (p<0.01) differences between the first posttest mean and weeks 4 and weeks 8-12, thus indicating progressive improvement in both back pain and stiffness while sleeping on the new mattresses. Additionally, the number of days per week of experiencing poor sleep and physical discomfort decreased significantly. It was concluded that sleep surfaces are related to sleep discomfort and that is indeed possible to reduce pain and discomfort and to increase sleep quality in those with chronic back pain by replacing mattresses based on sleeping position.

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