As a clinician, Dr. Brad Callan spent more than two decades treating neck and back pain. Now an Assistant Professor in PNWU’s School of Physical Therapy, he’s utilizing that experience to reshape the way we approach recovery after a motor vehicle crash.
His recent study, published as part of his dissertation work, highlights an often-overlooked factor in recovery: sleep. Now, Dr. Callan hopes to see that research positively impact the lives of millions of accident survivors.
During his years of clinical care treating patients with back and neck pain, Dr. Callan noticed a glaring pattern: many patients in pain reported difficulty sleeping. It made sense as there is a bidirectional relationship where pain made sleep worse and poor sleep made their pain worse. While this relationship exists, there persists a limited understanding of how much one influenced the other. And at the end of it all, people were struggling to find relief.
Soon, he began to reveal a connection: poor sleep was not just a symptom, but a major factor influencing both pain levels and the likelihood of disability. Within his current study, of all examined predictors, early sleep loss following a motor vehicle collision was the strongest predictor of poor long-term patient outcomes.
Those findings, which were recently published in the peer-reviewed Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice, aim to fill a significant gap in current research, providing a clearer picture of how much sleep disruptions may impact recovery. Hopefully, future studies can use this information to offer potential pathways for improving patient outcomes.
“Roughly 30% of the adult population deals with some form of chronic pain…”
“Roughly 30% of the adult population deals with some form of chronic pain, and 50% following a motor vehicle collision will continue to have symptoms 12-months after the initial trauma” Dr. Callan explained. “Finding a way to help them manage that pain – even just a small part of it – can have large implications.”
Sleep, he explained, is often overlooked in pain management and rehabilitation plans. Based on these results, future studies could examine if addressing sleep disturbances, especially early on, could significantly improve recovery for patients suffering from car accidents and other musculoskeletal injuries.
“If we can recognize sleep loss as a contributor to chronic pain and disability,” Dr. Callan explained, “we can look for ways to address the issue and hopefully, in some meaningful way, improve the quality of life for our patient’s.”
While research at times can seem abstract, Dr. Callan enjoys working to help make connections between clinical care and research findings. He works to accomplish this by asking one question, not only of himself, but of his students: “why?”
It is this question that helps to drive much of his research efforts, and science as a whole.
Why does pain persist? Why is back pain so common? Why does Yakima have such a high rate of diabetes?
“If we as a healthcare providers can answer the ‘why’ question, we will have a much greater understanding of how best to help people.”
“If we as a healthcare providers can answer the ‘why’ question,” said Dr. Callan, “we will have a much greater understanding of how best to help people.”
At PNWU, Dr. Callan is integrating his clinical insights and research findings to help prepare the next generation of Doctors of Physical Therapy (DPTs) – a generation that understands the “why” behind treatment decisions.
“At PNWU, there is a wide-open opportunity to make changes in the communities that we live in,” Dr. Callan urged. “Rural health care research is limited, and most population-based research is focused on urban environments. Therefore, there exists great opportunities for people to come to PNWU and make a difference.”
For example, when students express their desire to positively impact rural and medically underserved communities by addressing things like high rates of diabetes in the Yakima Valley, (with exercise and nutritional education) he cheers them on, of course. There is obvious value in having more local providers to help treat all those cases. “But, if we do not understand why so many people have diabetes,” Dr. Callan urges,” and then formulate solutions based on the why, we will forever be fighting an uphill battle.”
Research, he says, helps us determine that why. “I want my students to know that research isn’t just about theory,” said Dr. Callan, “it’s about improving patient care
Assistant Professor
PNWU School of Physical Therapy