Nocturnal pain and fatigue in middle-aged persons with hip complaints suspected for osteoarthritis – 10-year follow-up (check-study)

Abstract

Purpose: The prevalence and incidence of hip osteoarthritis (OA) will increase the coming decades; the lifetime risk for symptomatic hip OA already is 25%. Many patients with OA experience elevated levels of fatigue. Yet, little is known about what affects fatigue in persons with early signs of hip OA. A possible mechanism for fatigue could be nocturnal pain. Nocturnal pain is difficult to treat conservatively and was highlighted as a key concern by patients of focus groups. Nocturnal (knee) pain was earlier shown to be related to sleep problems, and poor sleep was significantly linked to fatigue among people with hip and knee OA.