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Association Between Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviors, and Sleep-Related Outcomes Among Cancer Survivors: a Cross-Sectional Study

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Abstract

Background

Limited research has examined the association between moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), sedentary behavior (SB), and sleep-related outcomes in cancer survivors. Therefore, this study aimed to examine these associations using a nationally representative sample of US adults.

Methods

Data from the 2005–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were analyzed. A total of 3229 adults with cancer histories were included. Physical activity was measured through accelerometry, and questions on daily activities, sedentary time, and sleep were collected during the household interview. Weighted multivariable analyses were conducted after accounting for the complex sampling design of the NHANES dataset.

Results

After adjustments, physical activity and SB outcomes were associated with several self-reported sleep-related parameters. Increases in minutes of self-reported MVPA and SB were associated with a decreased likelihood of reporting ≥ 8 h of sleep (OR = 0.92, 95% CI = 0.86, 0.99 and OR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.82, 0.95). Converse associations were found between device-measured MVPA and SB with the likelihood of reporting often/always feeling overly sleepy during the day (OR = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.75 and OR = 1.13, 95% CI = 1.05, respectively). However, an increased likelihood of waking up too early in the morning (OR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.04) was observed with increases in minutes of device-measured MVPA.

Conclusions

A sensible strategy to decrease the frequency of sedentary breaks and increase minutes of physical activity throughout the day may reduce sleep complaints reported in cancer survivors.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/. The 2005–2006 and 2007–2018 cohorts were used for this study. The data, scripts, and code used for the analysis and outputs is available in the Supplementary Material.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the contributions made by NHANES participants and NHANES staff and investigators for making this data publicly available. The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Experimental Surgery, Department of Surgery, McGill University Health Centre, 1650 Cedar Ave, Room L10.106, Montreal, QC, H3G 1A4, Canada

    Sarah Atoui & A. Sender Liberman

  2. Department of Physical Activity Sciences, Université du Québec à Montréal, 141, Avenue du Président Kennedy, Montreal, QC, H2X 1Y4, Canada

    Paquito Bernard

  3. Research Centre, University Institute of Mental Health in Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Paquito Bernard

  4. Department of Anesthesia, McGill University Health Centre, 1650 Cedar Ave, Room E10.160, Montreal, QC, H3G 1A4, Canada

    Francesco Carli

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  1. Sarah Atoui
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  4. A. Sender Liberman
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design. S.A. and P.B. performed data collection and analysis. S.A. wrote the first draft of the manuscript, and S.A., P.B., F.C., and A.S.L. commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Sender Liberman.

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Ethical Approval

The current study uses only secondary data analyses of the existing NHANES database, which is publicly available and has been de-identified. The National Centre approved NHANES for Health Statistics research ethics review board, and informed consent was obtained for all participants. Thus, no further ethical approval for conducting the present study is required.

Statement Regarding the Welfare of Animals

Not applicable.

Informed Consent

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

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Atoui, S., Bernard, P., Carli, F. et al. Association Between Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviors, and Sleep-Related Outcomes Among Cancer Survivors: a Cross-Sectional Study. Int.J. Behav. Med. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-023-10216-8

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