Sleep News

Stress Reduced When Sleeping on New Mattress

A study at Oklahoma State University shows improvements in sleep quality, back

discomfort and stress symptoms when sleeping on new beds. The findings are being published in the Winter 2009 Journal of Chiropractic Medicine with the title “Back Pain, Sleep Quality and Perceived Stress Following Introduction of New of Bedding Systems.”

Lead researcher Dr. Burt Jacobson also headed earlier groundbreaking research on the relationship between new mattresses, back pain, sleep quality and sleep efficiency. The first study was published in the Winter 2006 Journal of Chiropractic Medicine and featured in the March 2007 issue of Sleep Savvy.

In the studies, 59 healthy subjects recorded back discomfort and poor sleep quality upon waking for 28 consecutive days in their own beds and then for 28 consecutive days on a new mattress set. The earlier studies found that the comfort and support of the sleep surface is related to problems of sleep quality and efficiency. Specifically, Jacobson and associates found that replacing old mattresses with new, medium-firm mattresses reduced clinically diagnosed back pain, shoulder pain, spine stiffness and positively affected sleep quality.

The new study, funded by the mattress industry’s Better Sleep Council, went a step further and examined a set of stress-related factors, revealing that the improve-ments in sleep and back discomfort associated with sleeping on the new mattresses were paralleled by a sig-nificant decrease in stress.

The Study
The subjects were 30 women and 29 men with minor musculoskeletal sleep-related pain and compromised sleep,but with no clinical history of disturbed sleep. They owned and slept on commercially made inner-spring mattresses at least five years old. The average was 9.5 years.

The 28-day pre-test period required subjects to sleep in their own beds and to rate their sleep each morning to establish a base-line. The 28-day experimental phase began with the delivery and set up of the new bed sets, which were unlabeled and manufactured exclusively for this study. The mattresses were described as “medium-firm” with a “foam-encased bonnell spring unit, dense fiber pad, super-soft foam, damask cover, semi-flex foundation and slick fiber.” The new beds were the same size as the subjects’ original beds. To provide the most natural sleep environment during both phases, they slept in their own bedrooms and with their personal linens and pillows.

Consumer reports -

72% said new mattress improves sleep.

Sleep quality improvements by 55% and reduced back pain by 48% all part of the sleep-stress equation

Visual analog scales (VASs) were used each morning to assess the participants’ perception of sleep quality and lower back pain. Stress was assessed at the end of each 28-day period using a questionnaire containing 32 items related to physical symptoms and behaviors associated with anxiety and stress. It included reactions such as trembling/ticks, dry mouth, cold hands, stomach-ache, teeth grinding, tightness in the chest, and psychological/perceptual stress such as tension, forgetfulness, irritability, mind going blank, nervous-ness, feeling keyed up and worrying. Responses ranged from "Never" to "Nearly Every Day."

The Findings
Analysis revealed that sleep quality and lower back pain improved significantly and consistently over each of the four weeks subjects slept on the new beds. In addition, the stress analysis of both behavioral reactions and physical symptoms yielded significant differences after sleeping on the new beds.

Across the 28 days, sleep on the new beds reduced back pain approximately 48% and improved sleep quality by 55%. However, the researchers noted, greater improvement would have resulted if only the fourth (last ) week were used for the analysis since the subjects reported additional improvement each week. For example, improvement of sleep quality increased 24.2% from week 1 to 4.

Most importantly, the significant increases in sleep quality and pain reduction on the new beds were paralleled by a significant decrease in stress. Behavorial reactions decreased by 21.5% and physical symptoms abated by 19.5% after four weeks on the new beds.

The subjects were told that they could keep the new beds if they chose. Not surprisingly, all participants decided to keep th new beds.

Jacobson advises caution in generalizing the results. Stress stems from many sources and the abatement of stress may be difficult to achieve.

Additionally while the result agree with those who have concluded that sleep quality is associated with stress, it would be an oversimplification to suggest that a new bed is a panacea for stress management. Jacobson pointed to the wide range of variables in mattress firmness and support, together with the variations in the characteristics of the human body.

But that being said, Jacobson concluded, "The life of the support, structure and comfort of the mattress as it related to sleep quality may be considerably less [in years] than commonly assumed."

The Sleep-Stress Relationship

People who demonstrate higher stress levels have been shown to have significantly lower sleep efficiency, noted lead researcher Dr. Burt Jacobson in his report on the new study in the journal of Chiropractic Medicine. Moreover, various surveys show that a majority of Americans say they are losing sleep due to stress.

Poor sleep quality is associated with a continuous activation of the two major components of the stress system: the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the sympathetic nervous system. Stress is related to impaired and shortened sleep, sleep fragmentation and possibly a reduction in the deep sleep stages. While stress can cause sleep loss, poor sleep quality can contribute to stress. Lack of sleep can intensify the degree of stress, and shortened or disturbed sleep causes increases in levels of traditional stress markers and may exacerbate the effects of stress.

Both Mental and physical processes decline with inadequate sleep. Poor sleep quality is associated with anxiety, depression and mood disorders. The reverse is also true, Jacobson notes. Adequate sleep improves attitudes, moods and self-esteem.

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