New research finds back pain may disrupt men’s sleep quality later in life

According to a new study, back pain in older men can lead to worsening sleep later in life, specifically those with back pain are more likely to develop sleep problems over time.

The study, published in the journal Innovation in Aging, shed light on data drawn from the long-running Osteoporotic features in Men (MrOS) study, which follows older men to determine how they age and develop chronic conditions.

Researchers analyzed data from 1,055 older men who underwent clinical sleep assessments six or more years apart. Meanwhile, participants completed questionnaires every four months regarding the severity and frequency of their back pain throughout the sleep study cycle.

Their analysis showed that the back pain predicted a 12 percent to 25 percent in men’s sleep problems six years later.

Soomi Lee, an associate professor of human development and family studies at Penn State University, said, “We studied data collected over several years to understand whether poor sleep could predict back pain or sleep could predict poor sleep.”

The researchers determined that findings are based on observational data from older men, the results may not apply in the same way to women and more distinct populations.

Quality sleep is essential as it is strongly linked to better physical health and reduced mortality risk. Recent studies have demonstrated that people with chronic insomnia-defined having trouble sleeping for three months or more- are 40 percent more likely to develop dementia than people who sleep normally.