Brief Report: Actigraphic Sleep and Daytime Naps in Adolescent Girls with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain

OBJECTIVES: A descriptive pilot study to examine sleep and daytime naps in adolescent girls with chronic musculoskeletal (MSK) pain. METHODS: Seventeen girls (14.9 +/- 2.0 years) completed questionnaires on anxiety and depressive symptoms during their clinic visit, and maintained a sleep diary and wore an actigraph for 7 days. Parents completed a daily diary of their teen's medications and approaches used to ease pain. RESULTS: Average nighttime sleep was 7.2 hr by actigraphy. All participants had mean sleep efficiency <90%. In diaries, 76.5% of the girls reported daytime naps; five girls reported more than three days with naps and more naps were associated with lower sleep efficiency and total nighttime sleep. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescent girls with chronic MSK pain may sleep fewer hours at night than is recommended and nap in the daytime to compensate for insufficient nighttime sleep.