Painful Mondays: Exploring Weekly Sleep Variations and Pain Perception in Healthy Women—An Experimental Study

IF 3.5 2区医学 Q1 ANESTHESIOLOGY

European Journal of Pain Pub Date : 2025-03-06 DOI:10.1002/ejp.70004

Shima Rouhi, Natalia Egorova-Brumley, Amy S. Jordan

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Acute experimental sleep deprivation induces pain hypersensitivity, particularly in females. While the impact of extreme sleep loss on pain perception has been largely studied, how subtle sleep fluctuations, for example, sleep variations across the week, affect pain perception remains unclear. This study investigated how weekly sleep variations affect pain perception in young healthy women.

Methods

A sleep-monitoring headband and self-reported questionnaire were used to assess sleep. Quantitative sensory testing was conducted on Monday and Friday, including heat, cold, pressure pain thresholds, tonic pain summation and conditioned pain modulation.

Results

A total of 26 healthy young (23.9 ± 0.9 years) women were included. Repeated measures ANOVAs revealed significant sleep variation across the week, including differences in N3 sleep stage duration (M = 89.2 ± 5.42 min; p = 0.022, lowest on Friday and Sunday nights), bedtime (M = 00:56 AM ± 0.29; p = 0.038, latest on Friday vs. Sunday night) and wake-up time (M = 07:04 AM ± 0.30; p = 0.007 latest on Saturday vs. Monday morning). With most changes affecting Sunday night and Monday morning, pain sensitivity was higher on Monday compared to Friday, with a lower heat pain threshold (B = −11.89; p = 0.002) and increased heat pain summation (B = 1.65; p < 0.001).

Conclusions

The results showed higher heat pain hyperalgesia on Mondays due to weekly sleep variation. Since sleep is a modifiable factor, maintaining a consistent sleep schedule throughout the week could benefit pain management, particularly in chronic pain patients with less effective pain modulatory pathways.

Statement of Significance

How weekly sleep variations in real life between weekends and weekdays affect pain perception has not been studied before. This paper provides the first evidence that natural weekend–weekday sleep alterations, including shifts in bedtime and wake-up time over the weekend and the transition back on Sunday night, heighten pain sensitivity on Monday—known as the ‘Monday effect’. The compromised pain pathways on Monday underscore the importance of maintaining a consistent sleep schedule throughout the week, potentially benefiting patients with chronic pain.

Study Preregistration Statement

The authors have nothing to report.

Abstract Image

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痛苦的星期一：探索健康女性每周睡眠变化和疼痛感知-一项实验研究

急性实验性睡眠剥夺可诱发疼痛超敏反应，尤其是在女性中。虽然极度睡眠不足对疼痛感知的影响已经得到了大量研究，但细微的睡眠波动（例如，一周的睡眠变化）如何影响疼痛感知仍不清楚。这项研究调查了每周睡眠变化对年轻健康女性疼痛感知的影响。方法采用睡眠监测头带和自述问卷对患者进行睡眠评估。定量感官测试于周一和周五进行，包括热、冷、压痛阈值、强直性疼痛和条件性疼痛调节。结果共纳入健康年轻女性26例（23.9±0.9岁）。重复测量方差分析显示了一周内显著的睡眠变化，包括N3睡眠阶段持续时间的差异(M = 89.2±5.42分钟；p = 0.022，周五和周日晚上最低)，就寝时间(M = 00:56 AM±0.29；p = 0.038，最晚在周五与周日晚上)和起床时间(M = 07:04 AM±0.30；p = 0.007最晚于周六与周一上午)。大多数变化发生在周日晚上和周一早上，周一的疼痛敏感性高于周五，热痛阈值较低(B =−11.89；p = 0.002)，热痛总和增加(B = 1.65；p < 0.001)。结论受周睡眠变化的影响，热痛觉过敏在周一加重。由于睡眠是一个可改变的因素，在一周内保持一致的睡眠时间表可能有利于疼痛管理，特别是对疼痛调节途径不太有效的慢性疼痛患者。在现实生活中，周末和工作日之间的每周睡眠变化如何影响疼痛感知，此前尚无研究。这篇论文提供了第一个证据，证明周末和工作日的自然睡眠改变，包括周末就寝时间和起床时间的变化，以及周日晚上的转变，会增加周一的疼痛敏感性——被称为“周一效应”。周一疼痛通路的受损凸显了在一周内保持一致睡眠时间表的重要性，这可能对慢性疼痛患者有益。研究预注册声明作者没有什么可报告的。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

European Journal of Pain 医学-临床神经学

CiteScore

7.50

自引率

5.60%

发文量

163

审稿时长

4-8 weeks

期刊介绍： European Journal of Pain (EJP) publishes clinical and basic science research papers relevant to all aspects of pain and its management, including specialties such as anaesthesia, dentistry, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopaedics, palliative care, pharmacology, physiology, psychiatry, psychology and rehabilitation; socio-economic aspects of pain are also covered. Regular sections in the journal are as follows: • Editorials and Commentaries • Position Papers and Guidelines • Reviews • Original Articles • Letters • Bookshelf The journal particularly welcomes clinical trials, which are published on an occasional basis. Research articles are published under the following subject headings: • Neurobiology • Neurology • Experimental Pharmacology • Clinical Pharmacology • Psychology • Behavioural Therapy • Epidemiology • Cancer Pain • Acute Pain • Clinical Trials.