Effectiveness of a specific physical therapy program for Charcot-Marie-Tooth on sleep quality, pain perception, and nocturnal cramps: a pilot study

• Published in: Sleep science (São Paulo, SP ) Vol. 15; no. 3; pp. 326 - 333
• Main Authors: Souza, Cynthia Coelho, Vallim, Julia Ribeiro da Silva, Neves, Eduardo Luis de Aquino, Nunes, Paula Santos, Costa, Iandra Maria Pinheiro de França, Barreto, Lidiane Carine Lima Santos, Garcez, Catarina Andrade, Araujo, Adriano Antunes de Souza
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brazilian Association of Sleep and Latin American Federation of Sleep 01-01-2022; Thieme Revinter Publicações Ltda
• Subjects: actigraphy; hereditary sensory and motor neuropathy; musculoskeletal and neural physiological phenomena; Original; physical therapy modalities; rehabilitation
• ISSN: 1984-0659; 1984-0063
• DOI: 10.5935/1984-0063.20220058

Introduction Chronic pain, nocturnal cramps, and sleep alterations are prevalent symptoms and signals in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease patients. Sleep and pain are bidirectionally related and physical therapy can improve the binomial sleep and pain/nocturnal cramps. Therefore, we hypothesized that the application of a specific physical therapy program for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease would improve sleep quality, pain perception, and nocturnal cramps.
Material and Methods A non-randomized controlled study that included 9 Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease patients (intervention group - physical therapy program) and 8 controls (active control group - booklet on sleep hygiene). The intervention lasted 8 weeks, three sessions per week. The effects were evaluated ten days before (baseline) and ten days after the intervention (post). Our primary outcome was sleep quality (subjective and objective, assessed by Pittsburgh sleep quality index and actigraphy, respectively); and secondary outcomes were pain perception (brief pain inventory) and nocturnal cramps (self-report).
Results The program was able to improve the subjective sleep quality (p=0.005) and nocturnal cramps (p<0.001) but had no effect on actigraphy data (p>0.05) neither on pain perception (p>0.05).
Conclusion Our initial hypothesis was partially corroborated: the improvement in subjective quality of sleep and nocturnal cramps is already beneficial for the health promotion of the volunteers in this study affected by the disease. Our findings may serve as a basis for future research to develop a program focused on the treatment of analgesia, which can improve pain perception and alter the objective quality of sleep.