Abstract: Background – The correlation between sleep and chronic pain in dogs is poorly understood. In people, poor sleep is correlated with chronic pain. It has previously been reported that Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (CKCS) with Caudal Occipital malformation may have sleep disturbances. Hypothesis/Objectives – We hypothesized that CKCS with neuropathic pain (NeP) would have an increased sleep and nighttime restlessness evaluation score (SNoRE3.0) and a worse quality of life (QOL). Animals – 68 CKCS dogs. Methods – Owners of CKCS were recruited to complete a REDCap survey that was available on the institutional website. It collected demographic information, the SNoRE3.0 sleep survey, and an NeP neuropathic pain questionnaire including a QOL score. Results – The average age of CKCS was 5.0 years. There were 23 male castrated, 23 female spayed, 13 male intact, and 9 female intact dogs. The median SNoRE3.0 score was 12 (range 0 to 35). The median NeP score was 0.83 (range 0 to 2.6). The median QOL score was 2 (range 1 to 5). The Spearman correlation coefficient between the SNoRE3.0 and NeP was 0.381, with p=0.0012. The Spearman correlation coefficient between SNoRE3.0 and QOL was 0.29, with p=0.014. The Spearman correlation coefficient between NeP and QOL was 0.58, with P< 0.0001. Conclusions and Clinical Importance – These data indicate there is a positive correlation between owner survey responses regarding increased nighttime restlessness, presence of neuropathic pain, and a worse QOL. This indicates that sleep may be an important component of neuropathic pain in CKCS.
Learning Objectives:
Describe the reciprocal relationship between sleep and pain across species
Describe how client surveys are can be used to study sleep and pain
Describe how quality of life, sleep, and chronic pain are related in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels
