Are prolonged sitting and sleep restriction a dual curse for the modern workforce? a randomised controlled trial protocol

Abstract

IntroductionProlonged sitting and inadequate sleep are a growing concern in society and are associated with impairments to cardiometabolic health and cognitive performance. However, the combined effect of prolonged sitting and inadequate sleep on measures of health and cognitive performance are unknown. In addition, the circadian disruption caused by shiftwork may further impact workers’ cardiometabolic health and cognitive performance. This protocol paper outlines the methodology for exploring the impact of simultaneous exposure to prolonged sitting, sleep restriction and circadian disruption on cardiometabolic and cognitive performance outcomes.Methods and analysisThis between-subjects study will recruit 208 males and females to complete a 7-day in-laboratory experimental protocol (1 Adaptation Day, 5 Experimental Days and 1 Recovery Day). Participants will be allocated to one of eight conditions that include all possible combinations of the following: dayshift or nightshift, sitting or breaking up sitting and 5 hour or 9 hour sleep opportunity. On arrival to the laboratory, participants will be provided with a 9 hour baseline sleep opportunity (22:00 to 07:00) and complete five simulated work shifts (09:00 to 17:30 in the dayshift condition and 22:00 to 06:30 in the nightshift condition) followed by a 9 hour recovery sleep opportunity (22:00 to 07:00). During the work shifts participants in the sitting condition will remain seated, while participants in the breaking up sitting condition will complete 3-min bouts of light-intensity walking every 30 mins on a motorised treadmill. Sleep opportunities will be 9 hour or 5 hour. Primary outcome measures include continuously measured interstitial blood glucose, heart rate and blood pressure, and a cognitive performance and self-perceived capacity testing battery completed five times per shift. Analyses will be conducted using linear mixed models.Ethics and disseminationThe CQUniversity Human Ethics Committee has approved this study (0000021914). All participants who have already completed the protocol have provided informed consent. Study findings will be disseminated via scientific publications and conference presentations.Trial registration detailsThis study has been registered on Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (12619001516178) and is currently in the pre-results stage.

A Deep Learning Approach to Classify Sitting and Sleep History from Raw Accelerometry Data during Simulated Driving

“…This study was approved by the Central Queensland University Human Research Ethics Committee (0000021914) and registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (12619001516178). Data from this study form part of a larger study, and the complete study protocol is published elsewhere [37].…”

“…Inclusion criteria were: being aged between 18-35 years, having a body mass index (BMI) range between 18-30 kg/m 2 , being a non-smoker, not currently being a shift-worker and not being diagnosed with a sleep disorder. Inclusion criteria were based on previous studies investigating cognitive impacts of breaking up sitting [1,2,[37][38][39][40][41] to control for age and health-related factors which may have influenced outcomes. Participants were screened using a number of standard sleep, general health and physical activity questionnaires, with further information available here [37].…”

“…Inclusion criteria were based on previous studies investigating cognitive impacts of breaking up sitting [1,2,[37][38][39][40][41] to control for age and health-related factors which may have influenced outcomes. Participants were screened using a number of standard sleep, general health and physical activity questionnaires, with further information available here [37]. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions: (a) sitting and 9-h sleep opportunity, (b) sitting and 5-h sleep opportunity, (c) breaking up sitting and 9-h sleep opportunity or (d) breaking up sitting and 5-h sleep opportunity (See Table 1).…”

Move the night way: how can physical activity facilitate adaptation to shift work?

“…However, much of the breaking up sitting literature examines intervention outcomes in day working samples 75 , 87 , 117 – 119 . Thus, the impact of circadian misalignment on cardiometabolic health outcomes in response to a breaking up sitting intervention in shift working populations is currently unknown, though research on this is underway 120 .…”

A Time to Rest, a Time to Dine: Sleep, Time-Restricted Eating, and Cardiometabolic Health

“…To date, studies investigating TRE with sleep measures have been conducted in field settings [ 53 ] where there are clear limitations to internal validity related to extraneous variables (e.g., physical activity [ 110 ] and dietary behaviours [ 68 ]). We propose that future research should first employ rigorously controlled laboratory protocols [ 86 , 122 , 123 ] to investigate the effects of TRE and sleep duration on cardiovascular outcomes. In controlled laboratory settings, the window of eating can also be altered while keeping other variables constant.…”