Background/Purpose: Chronic pain in school-aged children and adolescents is highly prevalent and can be debilitating. Literature suggests that children with musculoskeletal pain are at risk for poor sleep quality and poor mood. The present study aims to explore the relationships among sleep, pain, and mood in children ages 8-18 with musculoskeletal pain.

Methods: Thirty children with either juvenile idiopathic arthritis or fibromyalgia (61% female, 92% white, mean age = 14) were recruited from the Rheumatology Clinic at Children’s Hospital of Alabama. Participants were given daily diaries to fill out for 7 consecutive days following their Rheumatology appointment, where they rated daily pain, sleep quality and mood. Ratings of daily pain, mood and sleep quality were averaged across the 7 days, resulting in a single pain, sleep quality, and mood score for each participant.

Results: Findings revealed that greater pain severity was significantly correlated with poorer sleep quality (r = -.570, p < .01) and more negative mood (r = .655, p < .01). Further, poorer sleep quality was also significantly correlated with more negative mood (r = -.400, p < .05).

Conclusion: These findings are consistent with previous literature supporting the interconnectedness of pain, sleep, and mood in pediatric chronic pain. With greater understanding of the associations among pain, sleep, and mood in children with rheumatic conditions may come enhanced therapies with the potential to substantially improve the quality of their health care.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/associations-among-pain-mood-and-sleep-in-children-with-rheumatic-conditions/