Nature and Science of Sleep

Among individuals with chronic pain, more than half suffer from sleep problems. Emerging evidence from different settings and methodological approaches suggests that sleep problems can lead to a greater risk and poorer prognosis for chronic pain conditions. This has led to the view that sleep and pain perpetuate and exacerbate each other.

To develop more refined therapeutic strategies for individuals suffering from pain and sleep problems, we need a better understanding concerning the long-term trajectories of these conditions, the impact of sleep quality on pain management, and the underlying mechanisms of the sleep-pain relationship.

Important questions remain about the role of sleep in the treatment of chronic pain, including what components of the sleep therapy are useful, in what format, and whether targeting sleep problems is effective for all types of patients.

Moreover, technological innovations may offer great potential for a better understanding of the impact of different sleep characteristics in the development and clinical course of different types of chronic pain – knowledge that may have great implications for healthcare policy and clinical practice.

We seek rigorous and high-quality observational, experimental, or intervention-based studies in the area of sleep and pain to address gaps in knowledge. We will consider reviews/meta-analyses, expert opinions, and commentaries if they make a significant contribution to the field.

Topics of interest include:

• The impact of sleep quality on pain management, including pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches for the management of sleep problems
• Mechanisms contributing to the sleep-pain relationship
• Longitudinal studies and factors influencing the sleep-pain relationship
• Causal approaches that address confounding and/or reverse causation
• Technological innovations and their clinical relevance in individuals with sleep and pain
• Population-specific considerations (e.g., psychosocial and sociodemographic factors)

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Submission Instructions:

Please submit your manuscript through the Dovepress website. During submission, enter the promo code ZATAE to indicate that your article should be considered for this Collection.

All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo full peer-review; Guest Advisors will not be handling submitted articles. Please review the journal’s aims and scope and author instructions prior to submission.

The manuscript submission deadline is 1 October 2024.

If you have any questions about this Article Collection, please contact Krista Thom at [email protected].

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Guest Advisor:

Dr. Eivind Skarpsno is a sleep researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). He is currently leading two ongoing randomized controlled trials on digital sleep therapy among patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain in primary and specialist care. He is also leading a project using genetics, and objectively measured sleep on ~30,000 adults and adolescents to identify causal relations between insomnia and ill health.

Disclosure Statement: Dr. Skarpsno declares no conflict of interest.

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