Sleep disturbance and anatomic shoulder arthroplasty

Sleep disturbance is commonly encountered in patients with glenohumeral joint arthritis and can be a factor that drives patients to consider surgery. The prevalence of sleep disturbance before or after anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty has not been reported. The authors identified 232 eligible patients in a prospective shoulder arthroplasty registry following total shoulder arthroplasty for primary glenohumeral joint arthritis with 2- to 5-year follow-up. Sleep disturbance secondary to the affected shoulder was characterized preoperatively and postoperatively as no sleep disturbance, frequent sleep disturbance, or nightly sleep disturbance. A total of 211 patients (91%) reported sleep disturbance prior to surgery. Patients with nightly sleep disturbance had significantly worse (P<.05) Constant pain, Constant activity, and Western Ontario Osteoarthritis Shoulder index scores prior to surgery. Postoperatively, there was a significant improvement in the prevalence of sleep disturbance, with 186 patients (80%) reporting no sleep disturbance (P<.001). The no sleep disturbance group had significantly greater patient-reported outcome scores and range of motion following surgery compared with the other sleep disturbance groups for nearly all outcome measures (P≤.01). Patients have significant improvements in sleep after anatomic shoulder arthroplasty. There was a high prevalence of sleep disturbance preoperatively (211 patients, 91%) compared with postoperatively (46 patients, 20%).