Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2017 July, 242(3)

Association Between Sleep Disturbance and New-onset Subjective Shoulder Pain in Survivors of the Great East Japan Earthquake: A Prospective Cohort Study in Miyagi Prefecture

YOSHIHIRO HAGIWARA,¹ TAKUYA SEKIGUCHI,^1,2 YUMI SUGAWARA,² YUTAKA YABE,¹ MASASHI KOIDE,³ NOBUYUKI ITAYA,¹ SHINICHIRO YOSHIDA,¹ YASUHITO SOGI,¹ MASAHIRO TSUCHIYA,⁴ ICHIRO TSUJI² and EIJI ITOI¹

¹Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
²Division of Epidemiology, Department of Health Informatics and Public Health, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
³Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Matsuda Hospital, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
⁴Tohoku Fukushi University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

The Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) and Tsunami devastated the northeastern coast of Japan on March 11, 2011. This study attempted to determine whether socio-psychological factors such as sleep disturbance and psychological distress influenced new-onset subjective shoulder pain in survivors, during the post disaster phase of the GEJE. From November 2012 to February 2013 (2 years after the GEJE) and November 2014 to January 2015 (4 years after the GEJE), survivors (18 years old or over) answered self-reported questionnaires. In total, 1,454 survivors responded to the questionnaires and were thus included in this study. New-onset subjective shoulder pain was defined as shoulder pain by encircled response absent at 2 years, and present at 4 years after the GEJE. Two years after the GEJE, ≥ 10/24 points on the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale-6, and ≥ 6/24 points on the Athens Insomnia Scale defined the presence of psychological distress and sleep disturbance, respectively. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of the association between new-onset subjective shoulder pain, and psychological distress or sleep disturbance. Amongst participants, 7.2% (105/1,454) reported new-onset subjective shoulder pain. Sleep disturbance was significantly associated with new-onset subjective shoulder pain (OR = 1.92, 95% CI = 1.24-2.98, P = 0.004); however, psychological distress was not (OR = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.42-1.42, P = 0.41). In conclusion, this is the first study indicating an association between sleep disturbance and new-onset subjective shoulder pain amongst the survivors of the GEJE.

keywords —— Great East Japan Earthquake; prospective cohort study; psychological distress; shoulder pain; sleep disturbance

© 2017 Tohoku University Medical Press

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Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2017, 242, 193-201

Correspondence: Yoshihiro Hagiwara, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Tohoku University School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8574, Japan.

e-mail: hagi@med.tohoku.ac.jp