“Part of the healing process is sharing with other people who care.”

-Jerry Cantrell

A study published in the Journal of Aging and Health found that older adults who experienced a great deal of sleep disturbances suffered a lot of pain the following day. However, on days that these individuals experienced a lot of positive encounters, especially with their partners, they didn’t suffer as much pain. 

This research was conducted by Meng Huo, an Assistant Professor at the University of California Davis,  Yee To Ng, a graduate research assistant at The University of Texas at Austin,  Jamie L. Fuentecilla, a professor at The University of Texas at Austin, Kate Leger, an assistant professor at the University of Kentucky, and Susan T. Charles, a professor at the University of California, Irvine. 

Specific sleep disturbances measured in this study were related to short or poor-quality sleep; this includes not being able to fall asleep, waking up too early, or waking up too often. 

Positive encounters with close partners reinforce the social ties that older adults value so much. In these relationships, they receive the support they need during upsetting experiences such as sleep and pain disturbances. 

The purpose of this study was to determine social factors that dampen the association between sleep disturbances and older adults’ pain. 

A sample of 333 adults aged 65+ in the Austin, Texas area was recruited for the purpose of this study in 2016-2017. 

Participants initially completed a face-to-face interview where they underwent assessments of their social networks and demographic characteristics. This information was used to create brief daily surveys that were provided on Android devices, asking the participants about their sleep and pain experiences. 

The first survey of the day, which appeared at reported wake-up times, would ask them about their prior nights’ sleep. Then, at every 3-hour interval throughout the day up until bedtime, participants reported their social interactions with partners and pain encounters. 

The results found that sleep disturbances that occurred the night before did in fact correlate with older adults’ pain responses the following day. The adults’ positive encounters, especially with close partners, attenuated their overall feelings of pain throughout the day. However, it didn’t have any significant impact on their most severe pain experiences or variability of pain throughout the day. 

Poor sleep quality can affect the level of pain a person experiences. In turn, their pain can lead to more sleep disturbances which may result in alternate health issues such as depression. 

Therefore, the confirmed link between sleep and pain seems to only dampen in the midst of older adults having a great deal of positive social encounters, or seeing these encounters as particularly pleasant. This effect is evident solely with close partners. 

This study may influence further insights into the targeted development of health initiatives for older adults that undergo sleep or pain issues.