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The association between physical activity and a composite measure of sleep health

  • Epidemiology • Original Article
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Abstract

Purpose

Physical activity has been associated with several individual dimensions of sleep. However, the association between physical activity and sleep health, a construct that emphasizes the multidimensional nature of sleep, has not been explored. This analysis examined the relationship between physical activity and a composite measure of sleep health.

Methods

A total of 114 adults (66% female, 60.3 ± 9.2 years) were included in the analyses. Participants reported daily light-intensity physical activity (LPA) and moderate- and vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) via diary, while wearing a pedometer (Omron HJ-720ITC) to measure daily steps. Sleep health was measured using the RU_SATED questionnaire, which addresses regularity of sleep patterns, satisfaction with sleep, daytime alertness, and sleep timing, efficiency, and duration. Multiple linear regression, binary logistic regression, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were utilized for analyses.

Results

Mean sleep health score was 9.6 ± 2.4 (0 [poor]–12 [good]). Participants reported 62.9 ± 66.0 and 51.2 ± 51.2 min/day of LPA and MVPA, respectively, and took 5585.5 ± 2806.7 steps/day. Greater MVPA was associated with better sleep health (β = 0.27, P = 0.005) and sleep health scores differed between those reporting < 30 min/day and ≥ 60 min/day of MVPA (P = 0.004). Greater MVPA was associated with higher odds of having good sleep satisfaction (OR = 1.58 [1.14–2.20], P < 0.01), timing (OR = 2.07 [1.24–3.46], P < 0.01), and duration (OR = 1.48 [1.02–2.18], P = 0.04). Pedometer-based physical activity and LPA were not related to sleep health or its individual dimensions.

Conclusions

In middle- to older-aged adults, higher-intensity activity, but not lower-intensity or volume of activity, was associated with greater sleep health. These data suggest that physical activity intensity may be important for sleep health.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to all study staff and participants that made this dataset a reality for secondary analyses such as these.

Funding

This study was funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant R01HL104607 (PI: Hall). Additional investigator support was provided by NIH grants K23HL118318 (PI: Kline) and R01GM113243 (PI: Krafty).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physical Activity and Weight Management Research Center, Department of Health and Physical Activity, University of Pittsburgh, 32 Oak Hill Court, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA

    Andrew G. Kubala & Christopher E. Kline

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Daniel J. Buysse & Martica H. Hall

  3. Department of Cognitive and Behavioral Science & Neuroscience Program, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA, USA

    Ryan C. Brindle

  4. Department of Biostatistics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Robert T. Krafty

  5. Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA

    Julian F. Thayer

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  1. Andrew G. Kubala
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  4. Robert T. Krafty
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  6. Martica H. Hall
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  7. Christopher E. Kline
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christopher E. Kline.

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Conflict of interest

DJB, RTK, MHH, and CEK have received grant support independent from this project from the NIH. DJB has served as a paid consultant for Weight Watchers, Bayer, and Emmi Solutions; received fees for educational products and programs sponsored by the American Academy of Physician Assistants, CME Institute, and Eisai; received licensing fees for the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, copyrighted to the University of Pittsburgh, and the Consensus Sleep Diary, licensed to Ryerson University. RCB and JFT declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Kubala, A.G., Buysse, D.J., Brindle, R.C. et al. The association between physical activity and a composite measure of sleep health. Sleep Breath 24, 1207–1214 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-019-02007-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-019-02007-x

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