Sleep Deprivation in Shift Work Alters Pain Perception

Shift work which is mainly characterized with sleep disruption has been reported to alter behavioral alertness, cognition, emotion, attention and general systemic functions. However, it is not known whether sleep deprivation in shift work would alter pain perception. The current study was designed to investigate the effect of shift work on pain perception in healthy Nigeria human and to possibly know if the effect is â-Endorphin dependent. Sixty healthy volunteers were randomly selected from Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria (consisting of 30 shift workers from MTN Telecommunication Company and 30 non-shift workers from the members of the public). These individuals were recruited, trained on what they should expect during the study and informed consent was obtained. Questionnaires were administered to gather volunteers’ biodata and socio-demographic background. Cold, ischemia and cold+ischemia-induced pain was administered, and the pain threshold and tolerance were estimated. Our results show that shift work significantly decreases (p<0.05) the pain threshold and tolerance during ischemia-induced pain test, and causes a significant increase (p<0.05) in pain tolerance during cold-induced and cold+ischemia-induced pain tests. Also, the circulating plasma â-Endorphin decreased (p<0.05) with shift work during cold-induced and cold+ischemia-induced pain tests when compared with non shift work. The results demonstrate that shift work alters pain perception which is accompanied by alteration in circulating level of plasma â-Endorphin.