Bretonneau Quentin, Arc-Chagnaud Coralie, Dugué Benoit, Dupuy Olivier, Delpech Nathalie, Enea Carina, Bosquet Laurent
Laboratory MOVE - UR20296 - University of Poitiers, Poitiers, France.
Front Pain Res (Lausanne). 2025 Jul 24;6:1614153. doi: 10.3389/fpain.2025.1614153. eCollection 2025.
Menstrual-related pain and sleep disturbances are widespread in women experiencing premenstrual syndrome and primary dysmenorrhea. Such disturbances could be alleviated through repeated whole-body cryostimulation (WBC) sessions. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the effect of menstrual-related pain on sleep parameters, and the impact of WBC exposures on pain and sleep.
Pain and sleep were evaluated for two 5-day periods under different conditions (control vs. WBC), randomly assigned across two consecutive menstrual cycles. Measurements began when the first pain/symptom indicating the onset of the menstrual phase was experienced. Pain was rated using a scale, while sleep was assessed using accelerometers and questionnaires. Throughout the 5-day WBC exposure, women underwent 3-min exposure to intense ventilated cold air each evening. After data collection, participants were categorized into high (HP) or low/no pain (LP) groups based on control pain scores.
Twenty-nine naturally menstruating women were assessed. Perceived sleep quality was lower in the HP group compared to the LP group during the control condition (Spiegel score: 20.1 ± 2.3 vs. 22.3 ± 1.9, respectively; Cohen's = 1.1). Across both groups, perceived sleep quality improved with the number of WBC exposures (night1: 19.5 ± 3.2 vs. night5: 23.5 ± 3.8; Hedge's = 1.10). In the HP group, pain was reduced in the WBC condition compared to the control condition. Changes in pain and perceived sleep quality following WBC were correlated ( = -0.86).
Women experiencing higher menstrual-related pain reported poorer perceived sleep quality. Their pain was reduced by WBC exposures. This improvement was highly associated with the enhancement in sleep quality.
与月经相关的疼痛和睡眠障碍在经前综合征和原发性痛经的女性中很常见。通过重复的全身冷刺激（WBC）疗程可以缓解这些障碍。因此，本研究旨在评估与月经相关的疼痛对睡眠参数的影响，以及WBC暴露对疼痛和睡眠的影响。
在不同条件下（对照与WBC）对两个为期5天的时间段进行疼痛和睡眠评估，在两个连续的月经周期中随机分配。当出现表明月经周期开始的首次疼痛/症状时开始测量。使用量表对疼痛进行评分，同时使用加速度计和问卷对睡眠进行评估。在为期5天的WBC暴露期间，女性每晚接受3分钟的强烈通风冷空气暴露。数据收集后，根据对照疼痛评分将参与者分为高疼痛（HP）或低/无疼痛（LP）组。
对29名自然月经的女性进行了评估。在对照条件下，HP组的感知睡眠质量低于LP组（斯皮格尔评分：分别为20.1±2.3和22.3±1.9；科恩氏d=1.1）。在两组中，感知睡眠质量随着WBC暴露次数的增加而改善（第1晚：19.5±3.2 vs第5晚：23.5±3.8；赫奇斯g=1.10）。在HP组中，与对照条件相比，WBC条件下的疼痛减轻。WBC后疼痛和感知睡眠质量的变化具有相关性（r=-0.86）。
经历较高与月经相关疼痛的女性报告的感知睡眠质量较差。WBC暴露减轻了她们的疼痛。这种改善与睡眠质量的提高高度相关。
