Poor preoperative sleep quality is a risk factor for severe postoperative pain after breast cancer surgery: A prospective cohort study.

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of preoperative sleep quality on acute postoperative pain in breast cancer patients.The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index questionnaire (PSQI) was used to assess the overall sleep status of women scheduled for unilateral modified radical mastectomy in the past month. Based on the responses, patients were allocated to good sleep group or poor sleep group. Postoperatively, acute pain was assessed using the numerical rating score in the first 24 hours; in addition, the requirement of analgesics and the incidence of postoperative complications were recorded.A total of 108 breast surgery patients were enrolled. Based on the PSQI results, 55 (51%) patients were allocated to poor sleep group and 53 (49%) to good sleep group. Pain scores were similar in the 2 groups at the end of surgery (P = .589); however, poor sleep group reported higher postoperative pain scores than the good sleep group at 2 (P = .002), 6 (P < .001), 12 (P < .001), and 24 (P = .002) hours after surgery. The incidence of severe pain in the poor sleep group was higher than that in the good sleep group (27% vs 8%, P = .018), and the ratio of participants who required rescued analgesics was greater in the poor sleep group (52% vs 22%, P = .002). In addition, patients with poor sleep quality had more postoperative complications and longer hospital stay.In this study, breast cancer patients with poor preoperative sleep quality reported more severe postoperative pain, required more analgesics, experienced more complications, and had longer hospital stay.

[Characteristics of Heavy Metal Contents in Human Hairs of Mine Contaminated Areas in Nandan County].

Nandan county is usually called "land of nonferrous metals". In order to discuss the impact of mining activities on the health of inhabitants in Nandan county, 200 human hair samples were collected from 4 villages (Liuzhai is a uncontaminated contrast areas, Chehe, Dachang and Zhanglao are contaminated areas) of Nandan and analyzed for contents of As, Sb, Cd, Pb, Cu and Zn. The results showed that the average contents of As, Sb, Cd and Pb were 1.260, 2.161, 2.466 and 20.92 µg·g-1 in the human hair samples from contaminated areas. They were 4.0, 20, 2.1 and 1.9 times higher than those in the contrast areas, and the Sb contents in human hair of Chehe and Dachang were higher than the recommended normal range. The contents of human hair Zn showed a negative correlation with the age of people (P<0.05), and contents of human hair Cd and Pb showed a weak negative correlation with the age of people in contaminated areas (P<0.1). The independent-samples t-test showed that Cd contents in male hair were apparently higher than those in female hair (P<0.05), however, Cu and Zn contents in female hair were apparently higher than those in male hair (P<0.05), in the contaminated areas. There were positive correlations between As and Sb, Cd and Pb, as well as As and Cd (P<0.01), while other elements showed no significant correlation between pairs. It was therefore concluded that contamination from the mining activities has exposed a serious threat to human health in the mine contaminated areas in Nandan county.