Sleep problems and pain

Abstract

Sleep and pain are thought to be bidirectional related on a daily basis in adolescents with chronic pain complaints. In addition, sleep problems have been shown to predict the long-term onset of musculoskeletal pain in middle-aged adults. Yet, the long-term effects of sleep problems on pain duration and different types of pain severity in emerging adults (age: 18-25) are unknown. This study investigated the cross-sectional and longitudinal relationship between sleep problems and chronic pain, and musculoskeletal pain, headache, and abdominal pain severity in a general population of emerging adults. We studied whether these relationships were moderated by sex and whether symptoms of anxiety and depression, fatigue, or physical inactivity mediated these effects. Data of participants from the longitudinal Dutch TRacking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey were used. Follow-up data were collected in 1753 participants who participated in the fourth (N = 1668, mean age: 19.0 years [SD = 0.6]) and/or fifth (N = 1501, mean age: 22.3 years [SD = 0.6]) assessment wave. Autoregressive cross-lagged models were used for analyses. Sleep problems were associated with chronic pain, musculoskeletal pain, headache and abdominal pain severity, and predicted chronic pain and an increase in musculoskeletal pain severity at 3 years of follow-up. This prospective effect was stronger in females than in males and was mediated by fatigue but not by symptoms of anxiety and depression or physical inactivity. Only abdominal pain had a small long-term effect on sleep problems. Our results suggest that sleep problems may be an additional target for treatment in female emerging adults with musculoskeletal pain complaints.

Pain, pain intensity and pain disability in high school students are differently associated with physical activity, screening hours and sleep

“…There is evidence that sleep deprivation affect some fundamental mechanisms of pain and pain inhibition, which conceivably, have a global and not a local effect, such as dysregulation of the endogenous opioid system, increased negative mood in the presence of pain and increased pain catastrophizing [24, 25]. Despite consensus regarding an association between pain and sleep [26], previous studies investigating the association between musculoskeletal pain and sleep have considered musculoskeletal pain without discriminating body sites [27, 28] or have studied the association between sleep and a limited number of painful body sites [29]. A longitudinal study that investigated the ability of insufficient sleep to predict pain in the shoulder, the neck and the low back, concluded that insufficient sleep was a risk factor for NP and LBP but only in girls [29].…”

The interfaces between vitamin D, sleep and pain

“…A prospective study showed that participants (~55% women) with sleep complaints had an increased probability (from 14% to 38%) of developing chronic pain 3 years later (Bonvanie et al 2016). Although many researchers support the hypothesis of a bidirectional relationship between sleep and pain, others suggest a unidirectional association, in which alterations in the sleep pattern predict the occurrence of pain (Finan et al 2013).…”

Disentangling the Sleep-Pain Relationship in Pediatric Chronic Pain: The Mediating Role of Internalizing Mental Health Symptoms

“…Similar relationships have been reported in epidemiological studies. Sleep problems in childhood (age 10-11 years; [ 15 ]) and young adulthood (age 19 years; [ 16 ]) were associated with a higher risk of developing pain problems two to three years later [ 15 , 16 ]. Few studies have empirically examined the mechanisms underlying the sleep-pain relationship in youth; however, negative affect [ 17 ] and depressive symptoms [ 18 ] have been proposed as potential mechanisms underlying the association between sleep impairments and increased pain intensity.…”