Rouhi Shima, Egorova-Brumley Natalia, Jordan Amy S
The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia.
Eur J Pain. 2025 Apr;29(4):e70004. doi: 10.1002/ejp.70004.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
The authors have nothing to report.
急性实验性睡眠剥夺会诱发疼痛超敏反应，女性尤为明显。虽然极端睡眠缺失对疼痛感知的影响已得到大量研究，但微妙的睡眠波动，例如一周内睡眠的变化，如何影响疼痛感知仍不清楚。本研究调查了一周内的睡眠变化如何影响年轻健康女性的疼痛感知。
使用睡眠监测头带和自我报告问卷评估睡眠情况。在周一和周五进行定量感觉测试，包括热、冷、压痛阈值、紧张性疼痛总和及条件性疼痛调制。
共纳入26名健康年轻（23.9±0.9岁）女性。重复测量方差分析显示一周内睡眠有显著变化，包括N3睡眠阶段时长差异（M = 89.2±5.42分钟；p = 0.022，周五和周日晚上最短）、就寝时间（M = 凌晨00:56±0.29；p = 0.038，周五比周日晚上最晚）和起床时间（M = 上午07:04±0.30；p = 0.007，周六比周一早上最晚）。大部分变化影响周日晚上和周一早上，与周五相比，周一的疼痛敏感性更高，热痛阈值更低（B = -11.89；p = 0.002）且热痛总和增加（B = 1.65；p < 0.001）。
结果显示由于一周内睡眠变化，周一的热痛痛觉过敏更高。由于睡眠是一个可调节的因素，整周保持一致的睡眠时间表可能有益于疼痛管理，尤其是在疼痛调节途径效果较差的慢性疼痛患者中。
此前尚未研究过现实生活中周末和工作日之间一周内的睡眠变化如何影响疼痛感知。本文提供了首个证据，即自然的周末至工作日睡眠改变，包括周末就寝时间和起床时间的变化以及周日晚上的恢复，会加剧周一的疼痛敏感性，即所谓的“周一效应”。周一受损的疼痛途径凸显了整周保持一致睡眠时间表的重要性，这可能使慢性疼痛患者受益。
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