Effect of cognitive behavioural therapy on sleep and opioid medication use in adults with fibromyalgia and insomnia.

Sleep and opioid medications used to treat insomnia and chronic pain are associated with adverse side effects (falls and cognitive disturbance). Although behavioural treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) and pain (CBT-P) improve sleep and clinical pain, their effects on sleep and opioid medication use are unclear. In this secondary analysis of published trial data, we investigated whether CBT-I and CBT-P reduced reliance on sleep/opioid medication in patients with fibromyalgia and insomnia (FMI). Patients with FMI (n = 113, Mage  = 53.0, SD = 10.9) completed 8 weeks of CBT-I (n = 39), CBT-P (n = 37) or waitlist control (WLC; n = 37). Participants completed 14 daily diaries at baseline, post-treatment and 6-month follow-up, assessing sleep and opioid medication usage. Multilevel modelling examined group by time effects on days of medication use. A significant interaction revealed CBT-P reduced the number of days of sleep medication use at post-treatment, but usage returned to baseline levels at follow-up. There were no other significant within- or between-group effects. CBT-P led to immediate reductions in sleep medication usage, despite lack of explicit content regarding sleep medication. CBT-I and CBT-P may be ineffective as stand-alone treatments for altering opioid use in FMI. Future work should explore CBT as an adjunct to other behavioural techniques for opioid reduction.

Opioid use, pain intensity, age, and sleep architecture in patients with fibromyalgia and insomnia.

Opioid use and sleep disruption are prevalent in fibromyalgia. Yet, the effects of opioids on physiological sleep in fibromyalgia are unclear. This study assessed associations between opioid use/dosage and polysomnographically assessed sleep in patients with fibromyalgia and insomnia (FMI) and examined moderating effects of age and pain. Participants (N = 193, Mage = 51.7, SD = 11.8, range = 18-77) with FMI completed ambulatory polysomnography and 14 daily diaries. Multiple regression determined whether commonly prescribed oral opioid use or dosage (among users) independently predicted or interacted with age/pain intensity to predict sleep, controlling for sleep medication use and apnea hypopnea index. Opioid use predicted greater %stage 2 and lower %slow-wave sleep (%SWS). Opioid use interacted with age to predict greater sleep onset latency (SOL) in middle-aged/older adults. Among opioid users (n = 65, ∼3 years usage), opioid dose (measured in lowest recommended dosage) interacted with age to predict SOL and sleep efficiency; specifically, higher dosage predicted longer SOL and lower sleep efficiency for older, but not middle-aged/younger adults. Opioid dose interacted with pain to predict %SWS and arousal index. Specifically, higher dosage predicted reduced %SWS and higher arousal index for individuals with lower pain, increased %SWS for individuals with higher pain, and did not predict %SWS for patients with average pain. Opioid use/dosage did not predict wake after sleep onset, total sleep time, %stage 1 or %rapid eye movement sleep. Opioid use prompts changes in sleep architecture among individuals with FMI, increasing lighter sleep and reducing SWS. Sleep disruption is exacerbated at higher opioid doses in older adults and patients with low pain.

Cognitive performance in patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators: Associations with objective sleep duration, age and anxiety.

Sleep disturbance and anxiety are highly prevalent in patients with implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs). There is limited research, however, on the associations between cognitive performance and sleep parameters, age and anxiety. Forty-one patients with ICDs and self-reported sleep disturbance completed 14 days of actigraphy (Mage  = 60.3, SD = 12.3) measuring total sleep time (TST), and a computerized cognitive test battery measuring processing speed and attention (i.e. simple reaction time and symbol digit modality task [SDMT]) and executive function (i.e. flanker task, letter series task and N-back task). Multiple regressions determined whether independent effects of TST, age and anxiety, as well as interactive effects of TST and age, predicted cognitive performance. TST predicted performance on two tasks of executive function (i.e. letter series and N-back task), as well as an attentional vigilance and processing speed task (i.e. SDMT), and this did not depend on patient age. On letter series, N-back and SDMT, longer TST predicted better performance. Increasing age was a predictor of worse performance on SDMT and flanker tasks. No other predictors were associated with task performance. Results show that sleep duration, not anxiety, may be an important predictor of higher-order cognitive functioning and lower-order tasks measuring processing speed and attention in ICD patients, with longer sleep duration showing greater benefit for performance.