How short-term muscle pain after exercise affects sleep in people with insomnia
Compares sleep after exercise-caused muscle soreness in people with insomnia and healthy sleepers.
Key facts
- Who runs it
- The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Where
- Hong Kong, Hong KongSee the site
- Trial code
- Registry title
- The Impact of Acute Pain on Sleep Parameters in the Insomnia Population and Healthy Controls
- Status
- Recruiting
- People taking part
- 80 people, planned
- Started
- 26 Aug 2026
- Expected to end
- 31 Aug 2027
- Type of study
- Observational, 2 groups
- Treatments tested
- Eccentric exercise
- Record updated
- 25 September 2026
Who can take part
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.
The trial is looking for adults with insomnia and healthy sleepers of the same age and sex. Both groups do an exercise that causes short-lived muscle soreness, and their sleep is tracked before and after.
- Age
- 18 to 60 years
- Sex
- All
- Disease stage
- People with clinical insomnia, or healthy sleepers as a comparison group.
Main reasons for not taking part
- Long-lasting muscle or joint pain in the past, or any pain at the time of joining
- Major injury or surgery on the legs in the past
- Sleep disorders other than insomnia, or a diagnosed mental health disorder
- Health reasons against hard exercise found by the PAR-Q questionnaire
- Night shift or rotating shift work, or pregnancy
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 9 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- Adults aged 18 to 60 years
- Right-hand and right-foot dominant
Who cannot take part
- Previous major injuries or surgery involving the lower limbs
- History of any chronic musculoskeletal pain or presence of existing pain during recruitment
- Sleep disorders other than insomnia
- Clinically diagnosed psychiatric disorders
- Contraindications to vigorous exercise identified through the physical activity readiness questionnaire (PAR-Q)
- Work night shifts or rotating shift schedules
- Pregnant
Check if you might fit
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 18 and 60 years old?
Where in Hong Kong
- The Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityHong Kong, Hong KongContact: Leo Guohui LinTaking people
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
This study investigates how acute exercise-induced muscular pain affects sleep quality and sleep architecture in people with insomnia compared to healthy sleepers.
Read full original descriptionShow less
Sleep disturbances and pain often influence each other, creating a negative cycle; however, it remains unclear how acute muscle pain - such as delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) after strenuous exercise - alters continuous sleep parameters and pain sensitivity differently in clinical insomnia populations versus healthy controls.
Participants will be divided into two groups: individuals with clinical insomnia and age- and sex-matched healthy sleepers. Both groups will undergo a standardized exercise protocol designed to safely induce temporary, acute muscular soreness (DOMS). Objective sleep parameters (measured via wrist Actigraphy) and subjective sleep parameters (measured via sleep diaries), will be monitored before and after the pain induction. The primary goal is to determine whether individuals with insomnia experience greater sleep disruption and altered pain recovery trajectories following an acute painful event compared to healthy individuals.
The 2 groups in the trial
- Insomnia
Treatment: Eccentric exercise
- Healthy contry
Treatment: Eccentric exercise
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- The Impact of Acute Pain on Sleep Parameters in the Insomnia Population and Healthy Controls: a Case-control Study
- Plain-language title
- How short-term muscle pain after exercise affects sleep in people with insomniaGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
- AI summary
- From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 14 November 2026.
- Fit questions
- Built from NCT07826650, who can take part
- Record updated
- 25 September 2026