Higher amounts of sedentary time are associated with short sleep duration and poor sleep quality in postmenopausal women

Abstract

Study Objectives To evaluate the associations between sedentary time, total (total-PA), light (light-PA), moderate (MOD-PA), and vigorous (VIG-PA) physical activity with indices of sleep in postmenopausal women. Methods Baseline self-reported data from the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study (n = 75 074) were used in this cross-sectional analysis. Total-PA, light-PA, MOD-PA, and VIG-PA were categorized by metabolic equivalents of the activity (MET-hour [hr]/week [wk]) and were estimated using validated questionnaires. Sedentary time was categorized by hr/day and was estimated via questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to examine the associations between these variables and short sleep (≤6 hr/night), long sleep (≥10 hr/night), poor sleep quality, and insomnia symptoms after adjustment for age, race, socioeconomic status, body mass index, health status, depressive symptoms, smoking status, alcohol use, hormone therapy, and comorbidities. Results Higher sedentary time (>11 hr/day) was associated with higher odds of short sleep (odds ratio [OR] = 1.80, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.72–1.88), poor sleep quality (OR = 1.85, 95% CI: 1.74–1.97), and insomnia symptoms (OR = 1.56, 95% CI: 1.49–1.64). Light-PA (>0 MET-hr/wk) was associated with lower odds of short sleep (OR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.92–1.00), and higher amounts of total-PA (OR = 0.90, 95% CI: 0.84–0.97), light-PA (OR = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.89–1.00), and MOD-PA (OR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.86–0.97) were associated with lower odds of poor sleep quality. Conclusions Our findings suggest that higher levels of light and moderate intensity physical activity are associated with better sleep quality, whereas higher amounts of sedentary time are associated with short sleep and lower quality sleep. Future studies should investigate the directionality of these associations and potential causal pathways.

Is Less Sedentary Behavior, More Physical Activity, or Higher Fitness Associated with Sleep Quality? A Cross-Sectional Study in Singapore

“…In line with our findings, a recent meta-analysis indicated no independent associations between SB and SQ but did demonstrate associations with other sleep outcomes [10]. More recent results from two large observational studies in generally healthy adults indicated that when the self-reported SB was high, the odds of reporting poor SQ/sleep problems nearly doubled [11,12]. Loprinzi et al examined data (N = 5563) from a large US sample of adults using objectively measured SB [7].…”

“…A meta-analysis found SB to be associated with an increased risk of insomnia and sleep disturbance but not daytime sleepiness and poor SQ in adults [10]. More recent results from observational studies suggest an independent relationship with SB and SQ [7,11,12].…”

Effects of a Clinic-Based Exercise Program on Sleep Disturbance Among Cancer Survivors

“…This could potentially limit the effectiveness of an exercise program to further improve sleep as those that are more active tend to have less sleep disturbance at baseline than those who are inactive. 36 Second, there was no control group. This limits the ability to determine whether a clinic-based exercise program was more effective than standard of care (e.g., “nothing”) for improving sleep, or to control for the effect of time (i.e., does sleep improve as participants move further from completing chemotherapy and/or radiation treatment).…”

Physical activity and risk of bladder cancer among postmenopausal women

“…Walking at 3.0 mph requires 3.5 METs of energy expenditure, which is considered a moderate‐intensity activity 13 . Thus, to be consistent with PAGA recommendations and previous studies, the total physical activity variable in MET‐hours/week was calculated and divided into four categories (0, >0‐7.4, 7.5‐14.9 and ≥15 MET‐hours/week) (15 MET‐hours/week was calculated by considering 6.0 × 150 minutes/week/60 = 15 MET‐hours/week as the upper scale of the recommendation level), 29 the walking specific activity variable was categorized as 0, >0‐8.74 and ≥8.75 MET‐hours/week (8.75 is derived as follows: 3.5 METs × 2.5 hours), and the moderate to vigorous‐intensity physical activity (MVPA) variable was derived from recreational physical activity, which was then categorized as into 0, >0‐11.24 and ≥11.25 MET‐hour/week (11.25 was calculated as the midpoint of the range 7.5 to 15 MET‐hours per week) 13,29 …”