Investigation of the relationship between pain severity, sleep quality, sleep variables, disability, and quality of life in patients with chronic low back pain

This study was designed to determine the effects of chronic low back pain on sleep quality, sleep variables, disability, and quality of life. Participants were assessed using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for pain, the Sleep Quality Scale (SQS) for sleep quality, the Sleep Variables Questionnaire (SV) for sleep variables, the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) for disability, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF) for quality of life. Total of 282 participants (mean age 31.26 ± 13.58 years; mean body mass index 25.12 kg/m 2 ) were included in. This cross-sectional, prospective, descriptive study. The mean VAS, SQS, ODI, and WHOQOL-BREF were 3.86 ± 1.43, 13.56 ± 2.45, 22.24 ± 14.62, and 70.61 ± 12.25, respectively. There was a strong positive correlation between the VAS and ODI ( r = 0.509, p < .001), whereas a moderate negative correlation was observed with WHOQOL-BREF score ( r = − 0.323, p < 0.001). There was a weak positive correlation between the SQS and ODI scores ( r = 0.282, p < .001) and a moderate negative correlation between the SQS and WHOQOL-BREF score ( r = -0.329, p < 0.001). No significant relationship was found between pain severity and sleep quality in patients with chronic low back pain, whereas significant relationships were found between disability and quality of life. And between sleep quality and both disability and quality of life. Among the sleep variables, no significant relationship was found between sleep quality and total sleep time on weekdays or weekends.