ArticleThe Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism2015
Menstrual Cycle-Related Variation in Physiological Sleep in Women in the Early Menopausal Transition.
Article in The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 68 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Biological Sex Differences in Sleep Spindles and Slow Wave Activity in Adults With and Without Insomnia.Journal of sleep research · 2026Pooled it
- Reducing bedtime physiological arousal levels using immersive audio-visual respiratory bio-feedback: a pilot study in women with insomnia symptoms.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2019Trial
- Acute stress alters autonomic modulation during sleep in women approaching menopause.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2016Trial
- Caloric Restriction, the Menstrual Cycle, and Sleep in Women Without Obesity.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2025Article
- The influence of menopausal status on sleep quality in different populations - a narrative review.Przeglad menopauzalny = Menopause review · 2025Review
- Sleep Disturbance and Perimenopause: A Narrative Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- The Ultra-Long-Term Sleep study: Design, rationale, data stability and user perspective.Journal of sleep research · 2024Article
- Menstrual Cycle Variations in Wearable-Detected Finger Temperature and Heart Rate, But Not in Sleep Metrics, in Young and Midlife Individuals.Journal of biological rhythms · 2024Article
- On the basis of sex and sleep: the influence of the estrous cycle and sex on sleep-wake behavior.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2024Review
- Relationship Between Insomnia and Continued Outpatient Treatment in Psychiatric Patients.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2024Article
- The Menstrual Cycle and Sleep.Sleep medicine clinics · 2023Review
- Tracking Sleep, Temperature, Heart Rate, and Daily Symptoms Across the Menstrual Cycle with the Oura Ring in Healthy Women.International journal of women's health · 2022Article
- Competitive dynamics underlie cognitive improvements during sleep.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021Article
- Impact of menstrual cycle phase and oral contraceptives on sleep and overnight memory consolidation.Journal of sleep research · 2021Article
- Article
- Ultradian rhythms in heart rate variability and distal body temperature anticipate onset of the luteinizing hormone surge.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Association of phthalate exposure and endogenous hormones with self-reported sleep disruptions: results from the Midlife Women's Health Study.Menopause (New York, N.Y.) · 2020Article
- Role of Ovarian Hormones in the Modulation of Sleep in Females Across the Adult Lifespan.Endocrinology · 2020Review
- Possible association between spindle frequency and reversal-learning in aged family dogs.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- The influences of sleep duration, chronotype, and nightwork on the ovarian cycle.Chronobiology international · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
contextMost studies show sleep homeostasis and continuity remain stable across the menstrual cycle in young women. The influence of the menstrual cycle on physiological sleep in midlife women is unknown.
objectiveThe objective of the study was to assess the impact of menstrual cycle phase on the polysomnogram and electroencephalographic (EEG) features of sleep in midlife women, accounting for the presence of an insomnia disorder. DESIGN AND
participantsThis was a laboratory study of 20 women in the early menopausal transition (48.8 ± 2.9 y), 11 with a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition, diagnosis of insomnia, studied on one night each in the follicular and luteal menstrual cycle phases.
main outcome measuresPolysomnographic and sleep EEG indices were measured.
resultsBoth groups of women had more awakenings (P = .003) and arousals (P = .025) per hour of sleep and less percentage slow wave sleep (P = .024) when progesterone was raised (≥3 ng/mL(-1)) during the luteal compared with the follicular phase. Both groups had greater spindle density (P = .007), longer spindles (P = .037), and increased 14-17 Hz EEG activity in the luteal phase (P < .05), although for the 15- to 16-Hz bin, this effect was significant only in women without insomnia (P < .001). Women with insomnia had a shorter sleep duration (P = .012), more wakefulness after sleep onset (P = .031), and a lower sleep efficiency (P = .034) than women without insomnia, regardless of menstrual cycle phase.
conclusionSleep is more disrupted in the luteal phase compared with the follicular phase in midlife women, whether or not they have an insomnia disorder. There is a prominent increase in sleep spindles and spindle frequency activity in the luteal phase, likely an effect of progesterone and/or its neuroactive metabolites acting on sleep regulatory systems.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.