Sep 30, 2014 02:01 AM EDT By J Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

Pain may lead to longer hospital stays, according to a recent study.

Researchers from the Henry Ford Health System found that patients who reported poor sleep while in the hospital following total hip or knee replacement surgery had higher pain scores.

"Our results show that increased pain scores result in deceased sleep duration," Anya Miller, lead author of the study said in a statement. "So better pain control could potentially improve sleep duration for these patients."

For the study, researchers "purposely chose a hospital floor that observes a quiet time between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. where the doors are closed and lights are dimmed." This setting enabled them to better determine the relationship between sleep disruption caused by pain.

Fifty patients who had undergone total hip or knee replacement surgery were included in the study. These surgeries offer variables that are easier to measure in that the surgery and perioperative interventions are standardized with a pain protocol before and after surgery.

The researchers looked at the patients' total sleep time, sleep efficiency, pain scores and use of narcotics for pain.

Based on their findings, better pain control can result in improved sleep efficiency and decreased awakenings and improved sleep efficiency could result in decreased length of stay in the hospital after surgery.

"Sleep is very important to patients' recovery following surgery," Miller of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery at Henry Ford said. "If we can identify factors that cause disruption in patients' sleep such as pain, noise and interruptions in the hospital setting we can help improve sleep quality and potentially decrease adverse outcomes."

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