Pain and Analgesic Related Insomnia

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this review is to describe the effects of analgesics on sleep.

Data sources: Systematic search of the databases of PubMed and the Cochrane Library was performed between January and September 2021.

Review/analysis methods: The search included all articles on the topic published during the past 20 years (2000-2020). The search strategy was developed using a controlled vocabulary of known studies meeting the inclusion criteria and focused on the following terms: chronic pain, pain, sleep disturbance, insomnia, analgesic, analgesic medication, antidepressants, antiepileptic drugs, nonsteroidal drugs, opioids, and quality of life. Two reviewers independently considered the studies for inclusion in the review, assessed the risk of bias, and extracted data.

Design: Review and analysis.

Results: A total of 37 studies met the inclusion criteria: 15 analyzed the effects of opioids, 6 those of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and acetaminophen, and 16 the effects of adjuvant analgesics.

Conclusions: Sleep quality may be adversely affected by a variety of medications used in clinical practice, including those used in analgesic indications. The class of analgesics most affecting sleep quality are opioids.