Insufficient sleep duration in association with self-reported pain and corresponding medicine use among adolescents: a cross-sectional population-based study in Latvia

Objectives Pain among adolescents is prevalent that may negatively affect adolescents’ general well-being of which sleep is an important domain. This study aims to explore the associations between weekly pain and medicine use for relevant pain and insufficient sleep duration among 11-, 13- and 15-year-old adolescents in Latvia by assessing the moderation effect of gender and age. Methods Data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Study on 2017/2018 of Latvia ( n = 4412; 49.6% boys) were used. Logistic regression was applied to analyse the odds of insufficient sleep (< 7 h) on schooldays and weekends in association with weekly headache, stomach ache or backache and corresponding medicine use when testing the interaction effect of adolescents’ gender and age. Results The experience of weekly pain with or without medicine use significantly increased the odds of insufficient sleep compared to adolescents with pain less than weekly, while controlling for gender and age. The interaction effect of gender and age on the studied associations was not significant. Conclusions Weekly pain among adolescents is a significant risk factor for insufficient sleep duration, regardless of adolescents’ gender and age.