Epidemiology of exercise and sleep

Abstract

Although exercise is widely believed to improve sleep, experimental evidence has found acute and chronic exercise to exert only modest effects on subsequent sleep. However, these studies are limited in that they have primarily used good sleepers (floor/ceiling effects). In contrast to experimental studies, epidemiologic studies have consistently reported significant positive associations between self-reported exercise habits and better self-reported sleep. This association has been confirmed across a wide range of demographics. Nonetheless, epidemiologic studies on this topic have also had limitations. They have often assessed exercise and sleep using instruments of dubious validity. Moreover, the studies have generally not included clinical diagnoses of sleep disorders. Thus, the clinical relevance of these findings is unclear. In addition, possible alternative explanations for the association of exercise and improved sleep have often not been controlled (e.g. bright light, other healthy behaviors). This review will focus on these epidemiologic studies. We will review and critique representative survey and epidemiologic studies of exercise and sleep and discuss directions for future research in this area.

A cross-sectional, multi-centric, epidemiology study to determine the prevalence of insomnia and related sleep habits in Indian hypertensive patients

“…Many studies worldwide have demonstrated a significant negative association between insomnia and physical activity. [30][31][32] In line with these studies, about 62.5% of the hypertensive patients who exercised daily did not report insomnia A statistically significant association between insomnia and different sleeping habits was also evident in this study. Majority of patients with hypertension has sleep related complaints al teast once or twice a week.…”

“…Furthermore, insomnia with negative daytime symptoms has been clearly associated with impaired wellbeing and quality of life. 33 A significant impact of insomnia on functioning capacity and daytime sleepiness was noted in this study. The daytime impact of insufficient sleep on wellbeing was very decreased for insomniac patients (100%).…”

The Somnolent Youth-Sleep and the Influence of Exercise: A Narrative Review

“…The shared belief is evident in laypeople and sleep experts alike [96]. Epidemiological studies also consistently show that exercise is associated with improved sleep quality [97][98][99][100]. Additionally, several studies account that partaking in regular physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of sleep disturbances and better sleep quality in adults [101].…”

Evidence of disturbed sleep and mood state in well-trained athletes during short-term intensified training with and without a high carbohydrate nutritional intervention

“…Regular physical activity has been shown to improve self-reported sleep compared with a sedentary lifestyle (Davenne, 2009;Driver & Taylor, 2000;Youngstedt & Kline, 2006). It is also understood that exercise improves mood state (Blumenthal et al, 1999;Dunn et al, 2005), which can be an additional factor in improving (or disturbing) sleep (Uchida et al, 2012).…”