Day-to-day variations in sleep quality affect standing balance in healthy adults

Abstract

Acute sleep deprivation is known to affect human balance and posture control. However, the effects of variations in sleep quality and pattern over consecutive days have received less attention. This study investigated the associations between day-to-day variations in sleep quality and standing balance in healthy subjects. Twenty volunteers (12 females and 8 males; age: 28.8 ± 5.7 years, body mass index: 23.4 ± 3.4 kg/m2, resting heart rate: 63.1 ± 8.7 bpm) with no history of sleep disorders or balance impairments participated in the study. Sleep and balance were assessed over two consecutive days. Sleep quality variations were assessed using sleep diary, actigraphy and heart rate variability (HRV) measures. Sleep was monitored at home, using an unobtrusive wearable device. Balance was assessed in a gait lab using foot centre of pressure (COP) displacement during quiet standing. Subjects with a day-to-day deterioration in sleep quantity and quality (i.e., decreased duration and increased fragmentation, increased nocturnal activity and decreased HRV) exhibited significant changes in balance (i.e., larger COP area, amplitude and standard deviation). Conversely, subjects with no significant alterations in sleep quantity and quality showed no significant changes in COP displacements. These results confirmed our hypothesis that changes in sleep quality and pattern over consecutive days may affect balance.

The immediate effect of incorporating short-term slow abdominal respiration into an exercise program on balance and the autonomic nervous system

“…In the study where the relationship between sleep-deprivation and balance in healthy adults, the subjects with deteriorated sleep presented with changes in the HRV parameters (lowered LF, significantly lowered HF, and larger LF/HF) and decreases in balance [36]. This suggests a possibility that the lowered ability in balance may have a relationship with the change in their ANS reactions (toward more sympathetic activation) measured through the HRV.…”

Why Do They Fall? The Impact of Insomnia on Gait of Older Adults: A Case–Control Study

“… 18 These studies have advanced the science by not only demonstrating the mutual relationships between sleep and postural control (mainly gait quality) but also reveal potential mechanisms underlying the relationships between these domains; however, generalizability is limited due to the unique types of morbidities characterizing the samples. (4) Studies that objectively evaluate both sleep and postural control (operationalized as gait) among healthy subjects in a cross-sectional design 19 , 20 Although the mechanisms are yet to be revealed, these latter studies pave the way to the investigation of shared mechanisms underlying the link between sleep and postural control, specifically gait.…”

Differences in the effect of sleep deprivation on the postural stability among men and women

“…The prerequisite for maintaining a stable posture is primarily the proper functioning of vestibular, somatosensory and visual systems. The lack of integration of one of these systems may lead to reduced postural stability [1].…”

“…Therefore, gender and sleep deprivation are factors that may affect postural stability [1]. Several studies are available that describe postural stability after sleep deprivation.…”