Regular daily routines linked to less pain and depression in older adults with insomnia

Older adults who keep regular daily schedules report less physical pain and fewer depressive symptoms, even when they sleep poorly. The finding comes from a survey study led by Eunjin Tracy at the University of Missouri and published in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine. It points to the timing of everyday activities, not only sleep itself, as a factor worth studying in later life.

What the study did

Tracy, an assistant professor in the university's College of Education and Human Development, and colleagues analysed survey responses from 67 older adults. Of these, 37 reported insomnia. The paper is titled "Behavioral-social rhythms and insomnia symptoms: associations with pain, body mass index, and depressive symptoms among older adults". The wider author team includes Christine So, Brian Chin, Yuxi Xie, H. Matthew Lehrer, Jill Kanaley, Brant Hasler and Daniel Buysse.

The participants were asked about their sleep and about how regular their daily habits were, including when they woke, ate, worked or studied, interacted with other people and went to bed. The team then compared these routines with reports of pain, depressive symptoms and body mass index.

Routine mattered beyond sleep quality

As expected, people with insomnia reported more pain and more depressive symptoms than those without it. The additional pattern concerned routine. Participants with more consistent schedules reported lower pain and less depression, and this held irrespective of how well they slept.

That distinction matters because insomnia is common in later life. The source cites the National Council on Aging in reporting that roughly half of adults aged 60 and over have insomnia symptoms. If regular habits are linked to better outcomes even when sleep remains poor, they could be a complementary target alongside treatment of the sleep problem itself.

A possible role for the body clock

The authors point to circadian regulation as one possible explanation. The circadian system is the body's roughly 24-hour timing mechanism, which influences alertness, hormone activity, metabolism and mood. Light and darkness are its strongest cues, but meals, work, social contact and bedtime can also act as timing signals. Predictable patterns may keep these signals aligned, while irregular ones may disturb the coordination.

Tracy also highlights social jet lag, the shift in sleep and wake times between workdays and days off. Rising early on weekdays and sleeping late at weekends can produce a mismatch somewhat like crossing time zones. Keeping reasonably steady schedules across the whole week, weekends included, might limit that disruption.

Limitations and next steps

The study is cross-sectional, relies on self-reported survey data and includes a small sample. It cannot show that adopting a regular routine reduces pain or depression; people with less pain and better mood may simply find it easier to keep a routine. The circadian explanation is a hypothesis rather than a tested mechanism in this work.

Larger studies would be needed, and the clearest test would be trials that change people's daily schedules and track pain and mood over time. Tracy argues that health research should take a fuller 24-hour view, given that about a third of life is spent asleep, rather than concentrating on waking hours alone.

Source: Scientists find a simple daily routine linked to less pain and depression (ScienceDaily: top science, 14 November 2026).

Image: AI-generated illustration.