A comparison of nocturnal upper trapezius muscle activity between chronic neckpain patients with sleep disturbance and healthy participants.

Abstract

Sleep disturbances frequently occur in patients with chronic neck pain. In these patients, upper trapezius muscle dysfunction is observed during sleep. This study aimed to evaluate the trapezius muscle activity during sleep among patients with chronic neck pain and sleep disturbances for comparison with healthy subjects. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. Patients with chronic neck pain and healthy subjects participated in the study. Two overnightpolysomnography recordings were conducted for each subject. Surface electromyography was utilized to record the nocturnal activity of the right and left upper trapeziusmuscles throughout the night. The nocturnal upper trapezius activity recording was divided into the following parts: wakefulness, rapid eye movement sleep(REM), and non-rapid eye movement sleep(NREM). The nocturnal activity during NREM sleepwas further divided into three parts (stage INREMsleep, stage IINREM, and stage IIINREM. Normalization of EMG signals was performed. The normalized value of nocturnal activity was derived for analysis. Among 15 patients with chronic neck pain and 15 healthy subjects, statistically significant differences were observed in the nocturnal activity of theupper trapezius. Compared to healthy subjects, the nocturnal activity of theupper trapezius was significantly higher during wakefulness, REM sleep, and NREM II and III sleepin patients with chronic neck pain and sleep disturbances. There was higher nocturnal upper trapezius activity in patients with chronic neck pain compared to healthy controls. The findings suggest a possible pathophysiological mechanism that may relate to chronic neck pain. CTRI/2019/09/021028.