Sleep Deficiency and Opioid Use Disorder: Trajectory, Mechanisms, and Interventions

Jennifer Langstengel; H Klar Yaggi

doi:10.1016/j.jsmc.2024.07.009

Sleep Deficiency and Opioid Use Disorder: Trajectory, Mechanisms, and Interventions

Sleep Med Clin. 2024 Dec;19(4):625-638. doi: 10.1016/j.jsmc.2024.07.009.

Authors

Jennifer Langstengel¹, H Klar Yaggi²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, 300 Cedar Street, PO Box 208057, New Haven, CT 06520-8057, USA.
² Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, 300 Cedar Street, PO Box 208057, New Haven, CT 06520-8057, USA; Clinical Epidemiology Research Center (CERC), VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA. Electronic address: henry.yaggi@yale.edu.

PMID: 39455182
DOI: 10.1016/j.jsmc.2024.07.009

Abstract

Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a chronic and relapsing brain disease characterized by loss of control over opioid use and impairments in cognitive function, mood, pain perception, and autonomic activity. Sleep deficiency, a term that encompasses insufficient or disrupted sleep due to multiple potential causes, including sleep disorders (eg, insomnia, sleep apnea), circadian disruption (eg, delayed sleep phase and social jet lag), and poor sleep quality (eg, sleep fragmentation, impaired sleep architecture), is present in greater than 75% of patients with OUD. This article focuses on highlighting bidirectional mechanisms between OUD and sleep deficiency and points toward promising therapeutic targets.

Keywords: Control of breathing; Opioid use disorder; Sleep deficiency.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Humans
Opioid-Related Disorders* / physiopathology
Opioid-Related Disorders* / therapy
Sleep Wake Disorders* / physiopathology
Sleep Wake Disorders* / therapy