Bidirectional associations between physical activity and sleep in older adults: a multilevel analysis using polysomnography

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 12; no. 1; p. 15399
• Main Authors: Seol, Jaehoon, Lee, Jaehee, Park, Insung, Tokuyama, Kumpei, Fukusumi, Shoji, Kokubo, Toshio, Yanagisawa, Masashi, Okura, Tomohiro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 13-09-2022; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 692/700/1518; 692/700/478; 692/700/784; Daytime; Exercise; Humanities and Social Sciences; Latency; multidisciplinary; NREM sleep; Observational studies; Older people; Physical activity; Questionnaires; REM sleep; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sedentary behavior; Sleep
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-19841-x

Although recent studies have examined the bidirectional associations between physical activity and sleep parameters, few have focused on older adults utilizing objective assessments, such as polysomnography. This micro-longitudinal observational study included 92 Japanese older adults (aged 65–86 years) who underwent objective evaluations of sleep quality using polysomnography and completed subjective sleep-related questionnaires. Activity levels were assessed using an accelerometer. Polysomnography, subjective sleep-related questionnaires, and accelerometer were administered for 7 consecutive days. Multilevel models (participant-, day-level) were used to examine the temporal associations of objective and subjective sleep parameters with sedentary behavior and physical activity. In the day-level analysis, higher levels of sedentary behavior during daytime were associated with longer rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, shorter REM latency, lower levels of non-REM sleep (stage N3), and reduced delta power during daytime. Higher levels of low-intensity physical activity during daytime were associated with lower levels of REM sleep, longer REM latency, and increased stage N3 sleep in the day-level analysis. Higher levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity were associated with increased REM latency. Longer subjective sleep time was associated with increased next-day moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Thus, low-intensity physical activity may provide objective benefits related to deep sleep parameters in older adults.