Misalignment Between Subjective and Objective Sleep in Chronic Pain: The Role of Depressive Symptoms
Chronic pain is associated with people reporting difficulty sleeping. A September 2026 study published in Sleep Medicine compared self-reported sleep measures to objective sleep measures. Polysomnographic data was gathered from 45 patients with chronic pain conditions and 161 without chronic pain seen in a New York hospital. The study found no difference between the groups on the objective polysomnographic data measured in a sleep lab, but people with chronic pain reported significantly worse sleep. Depressive symptoms partially mediated the relationship between chronic pain and subjective sleep measures. The authors call for careful use of self-reported sleep measures in people with chronic pain and advocate for using multiple methods of sleep measurement.
