Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2018 January, 244(1)

Higher Incidence of Sleep Disturbance among Survivors with Musculoskeletal Pain after the Great East Japan Earthquake: A Prospective Study

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

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

Sleep disturbance is a common symptom after natural disasters. Although musculoskeletal pain also increases after natural disasters, its relation to sleep disturbance is not clear. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of musculoskeletal pain on new-onset sleep disturbance among survivors after the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE). A prospective cohort study was conducted with the survivors of the GEJE at two and three years after the earthquake. New-onset sleep disturbance was defined as sleep disturbance absent at two years and present at three years after the earthquake. The sites of musculoskeletal pain included low back, shoulder, knee, and hand or foot. The number of musculoskeletal pain sites at two years after the earthquake was divided into three categories (0, 1, and 2 or more). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to calculate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) for new-onset sleep disturbance according to the number of musculoskeletal pain sites. A total of 1,102 survivors were included in this study and 14.6% of the participants reported new-onset sleep disturbance. Using “0” as a reference, the adjusted ORs (95% CI) for new-onset sleep disturbance were 2.43 (1.55-3.80) in “1” and 2.96 (1.88-4.64) in “2 or more”, respectively (P for trends < 0.001). In conclusion, this is the first study showing higher incidence of sleep disturbance among survivors with musculoskeletal pain after the GEJE. Care for musculoskeletal pain is important to prevent sleep disturbance after natural disasters.

keywords —— disaster; Great East Japan Earthquake; musculoskeletal pain; sleep disturbance; survivor

© 2018 Tohoku University Medical Press

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Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2018, 244, 25-32

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

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