Background and purpose. Sleep disturbance is frequently reported by people with chronic low back pain (CLBP >12 weeks), but there is limited knowledge of their sleep quality compared to healthy people. While disturbed sleep influences patients' mood, quality of life and recovery, few studies have comprehensively investigated sleep in CLBP. This study investigated differences in sleep profiles of people with CLBP, compared to age- and gender matched controls over seven consecutive nights. Methods. Thirty-two consenting subjects (n=16 with CLBP, n=16 matched controls), aged 24-65 years (43.8% male) underwent an interview regarding sleep influencing variables (e.g. mattress firmness, caffeine consumption), completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Pittsburgh Sleep Diary, SF36-v2, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and CLBP measures (i.e. Oswestry Disability Index and Numerical Pain Scales), recorded seven consecutive nights of sleep in their home using actigraphy, and completed a Devices Utility Questionnaire. Results. Compared to controls, people with CLBP had significantly disturbed sleep on self-report measures (PSQI mean (SD) 10.9 (4.2); ISI mean 13.7 (7.6); Sleep Diary; p<0.001), but no significant differences on objective actigraphy (p>0.05). Actigraphy was found to be a user friendly sleep measure for use in the home environment (84.6%, n=11 CLBP; 73.3%, n=11 control). Conclusions. Self-rated sleep using a valid instrument should be routinely measured in LBP research and clinical practice. Further investigation of the relationship between patients' perception of their sleep quality and its objective measurement is warranted before actigraphy could be recommended as an objective outcome measure for the evaluation of sleep in this population

The April 2013 Shoulder & Elbow Roundup³⁶⁰ looks at: biceps, pressure and instability; chronic acromio-clavicular joint instability; depression and shoulder pain; shoulder replacement and transfusion; cuff integrity and function; iatropathic plexus injury; the accuracy of acromio-clavicular joint injection; and tennis as a risk factor for tennis elbow.