Patients’ sleep problems after trauma affect emotional outcomes for 1 year

PHOENIX — Sleep disturbance was associated with a poor emotional outcome, but had less of an impact on physical outcomes after fracture surgery, based on data presented here.

“Sleep difficulty beyond 6 months following orthopedic trauma is associated with emotional difficulties,” Brandon S. Schulman, BA, said in a presentation at the Orthopaedic Trauma Association Annual Meeting. “Orthopedic surgeons should refer patients to mental health specialists if they suspect a psychological cause for persistent sleep difficulties, and a close relationship between orthopedic trauma surgeons and patients is imperative to providing the highest level of patient care.”

Schulman and colleagues prospectively followed 1,095 trauma patients with proximal humeral fractures, ankle fractures, distal radius fractures, tibial plateau fractures or ankle fractures, according to the abstract. They compared disturbances in sleep that these patients had to their demographics and overall functional outcomes using the SF-36 and Short Musculoskeletal Function Assessment (SMFA). The investigators issued the questionnaires at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months postoperatively.

At the 12-month follow-up in patients with tibial plateau fractures and ankle fractures the researchers noted disturbance in sleep was independently associated with poor emotional outcomes, but not functional outcomes. Further, at the same time point, the SF-36 mental component scores for patients with distal radius fractures independently identified sleep disturbance with poor emotional outcomes, but with not poor functional outcomes.

Reference:

Schulman BS. Paper #89. Presented at: Orthopaedic Trauma Association Annual Meeting. Oct. 9-12, 2013; Phoenix.

Disclosure: Shulman has no relevant financial disclosures.