Objective: Pain and sleep disturbances are among the most frequently encountered non-motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the complex relationship between these two symptoms in PD.

Method: Retrospective study of a cohort of patients with PD. Demographic data and clinical features (gender, age, disease duration, Hoehn-Yahr stage, MDS-UPDRS III scores) were analyzed.  All participants completed validated questionnaires for pain and sleep quality assessment. We used MDS-NMS to quantify sleep disorders and pain. Then, in order to characterize these non-motor symptoms we used King’s Parkinson’s disease Pain Scale (KPPS) and Parkinson’s Disease Sleep Scale (PDSS).

Results: 95.42% of PD patients reported sleep disturbances (51.2% females), 92.37% had pain (52.89% females) and 87.79% (53.91% females) reported both sleep disturbances and pain. In the latter group, KPPS score was 17.8 ± 14.36 and PDSS score was 25.11 ± 10.44. There were significant differences in pain and sleep quality between genders, with worse KPSS and PDSS scores among women (19.71 ± 15.14 and 25.92 ± 9.62, r=0.632, p=0.003) comparing with men (15.56 ± 13.17 and 24.17 ± 11.26, r=0.496, p<0.001), with a moderate correlation between these two scores in both groups. There was a significant correlation between pain and sleep dysfunction and disease progression as patients with stages 4 and 5 Hoehn- Yahr had worse scores in both KPSS and PDSS (22.25 ± 15.67 and 29.75 ± 6.21, r= 0.592) compared to patients with stages 1 and 2 H-Y (16.02 ± 13.47 and 24.22 ± 9.92, r= 0.617).

Conclusion: There was a significant association between sleep disturbances and pain. These non-motor symptoms were more severe in women compared to men, with moderate correlations in both genders. Furthermore, as the disease progresses, pain and sleep disorders become more severe and more frequent.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/pain-and-sleep-in-parkinsons-disease/