Restless sleep causes pain in elderly: Study

"Non-restorative sleep" is the biggest risk factor for the onset of widespread pain in older adults and elderly, according to a recent study published in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatology.

Fibromyalgia is known as widespread pain that affects various parts of the body, and it impacts 15 percent of women and 10 percent of men 50 years and older.

Researchers compiled data on the pain levels, physical and mental health of more than 4,300 adults age 50 or older to identify what triggers this widespread pain. At the start of the study, no one had widespread pain although about 2,700 expressed feeling some pain.

Three years into the study, 19 percent of the participants suffered from new widespread pain. What's more, 25 percent of people who started out with some pain and 8 percent with no prior pain had new widespread pain three years later. The results prove that factors such as restless sleep, anxiety, memory problems and poor health contribute to the development of widespread pain.

"While osteoarthritis is linked to new onset of widespread pain, our findings also found that poor sleep, [memory], and physical and psychological health may increase pain risk," concluded Dr. John McBeth from the arthritis research center at Keele University in Staffordshire, England and the study's leader said in a statement.

The findings also showed that as participants got older, their risk of developing widespread pain decreased since muscle, bone and nerve pain is more common in the elderly than widespread pain. Of the adults ages 65 and over, almost 80 percent experienced some form of daily pain.

This study proves there is a correlation between widespread pain and restless sleep, but it does not imply a direct cause-and-effect relationship, the researchers noted.

McBeth adds, though, that remedies against such pain should be made available.

"Combined interventions that treat both site-specific and widespread pain are needed for older adults," he said.