Survey study, 2025
Does menstruation affect how well women sleep?
Yes. Women who were menstruating had lower sleep efficiency (81%) compared to non-menstruating women (84.2%). No other major differences were found in symptoms or blood inflammation markers.
What they did
Researchers compared 232 women from an epidemiological study in Brazil: 61 who were currently menstruating and 171 who were not. They measured sleep using overnight sleep recording equipment and asked women about sleep quality, sleepiness, insomnia, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and quality of life. They also tested blood inflammation markers.
What they found
Women who were menstruating had lower sleep efficiency (81%) compared with non-menstruating women (84.2%). Both groups reported fatigue symptoms but no significant difference was seen between groups. No differences were found in blood inflammation markers between the two groups.
What it means for you
Menstruation may reduce how efficiently women sleep. This is measurable through sleep recordings, not just how women feel. The main limits are this is a single point-in-time comparison rather than watching women through their full cycle, and it did not specify which menstrual phases matter most.
232
women studied
81%
sleep efficiency when menstruating
84.2%
sleep efficiency when not menstruating
About the study
- Original title
- Sleep is altered during menstruation but not inflammatory parameters: Results from polysomnography of EPISONO database
- Authors
- Ishikura IA, Hachul H, Moysés-Oliveira M et al.
- Journal
- Journal of sleep research
- Year
- 2025
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 171
- What was tested
- None
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1111/jsr.14380
Topics
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