ReviewEBioMedicine2026
Why sleep matters in chronic pain: evidence across the lifespan.
Review in EBioMedicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Sleep Disturbances in Patients with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: A Pilot Exploratory Study on Pain Characteristics, Functional Impairment, and Psychological Factors.Brain sciences · 2026Article
- Differences in Depression and Anxiety, Quality of Life and Quality of Sleep Between Neuropathic and Nociceptive Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain: A Comparative, Multi-Center, Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Rotator cuff injury disrupts sleep architecture in mice and exhibits a light-dark phase-dependent pattern.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2026Article
- Insomnia Increases Susceptibility to Sciatica: Evidence from Mendelian Randomization and Integrative Genetic Analyses.Journal of pain research · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Sleep problems commonly coexist with chronic pain conditions, with growing evidence that they may precede and contribute to pain persistence. Meanwhile, pain itself can disturb sleep, creating a bidirectional relationship. In this narrative review we explore how the sleep-pain relationship changes across the lifespan. In childhood and adolescence, poor sleep may predict the emergence of pain, possibly through neurodevelopmental impacts on pain modulation and affective regulation. In adulthood, sleep interacts with lifestyle, psychological state and occupational stressors to shape pain risk. In older adults, chronic pain and comorbidities such as sleep apnoea and depression may further impair sleep quality, reinforcing a vicious cycle. Across all stages, shared mechanisms, such as hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysregulation, neuroinflammation, and impaired glymphatic clearance may contribute to this interplay. Recognising early sleep disturbance as a modifiable risk factor for later pain offers opportunities for prevention, while improving sleep may reduce the impact of established chronic pain.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.