• Wing S Wong and Richard Fielding.
• Department of Psychological Studies, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, 10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, Hong Kong. wingwong@ied.edu.hk
• J Psychosom Res. 2012 Jul 1;73(1):28-34.

ObjectivesAlthough research suggests there is considerable overlap among chronic pain, fatigue, and sleep disturbances, no research to date has concurrently examined their interrelationships. This study estimates the co-occurrence of these three conditions in terms of prevalence and associated factors in the general adult population.MethodsIn a population-based, cross-sectional telephone survey, 5001 adults aged ≥18 years drawn from the Hong Kong general population completed the Chronic Pain Grade (CPG) questionnaire, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Chronic Fatigue Scale (CFS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and socio-demographic questions.ResultsThe overall prevalence of reporting all three chronic conditions was 5.6% (95% CI: 4.9-6.4) and increased with age, being higher in women, and those in lower income and education level groups. Individuals with multiple symptoms also reported poorer mental health, and self-perceived health. Results of multi-ordinal regression analyses identified female, divorced/separated, having part time employment, retirees, unemployment, housewives, existing long-term health problems, higher HADS scores, and low self-perceived health to be significantly associated with reporting all three symptoms.ConclusionThis study has shown that the co-occurrence of chronic pain, fatigue, and sleep disturbances was common in the general adult population. Multiple symptoms are comorbid of psychological distress.Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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