Effects of light-to-moderate intensity aerobic exercise on objectively measured sleep parameters among community-dwelling older people

Objectives: Although exercise improves sleep parameters in older people, most studies have been designed for people with insomnia or sleep complaints. Little is known of the effects of exercise among older people without sleep problems. We investigated the effects of 3-month light-to-moderate intensity aerobic exercise intervention on objectively measured sleep quantity and quality among community-dwelling older people.

Methods: Fifty-eight community-dwelling older people were assigned into an exercise (EX) or control (CON) groups, and 49 participants (65.7 ± 5.7 years. BMI 24.4 ± 3.9 kg/m²) were enrolled in the analysis. EX group members attended 60 min/week group-based exercise program and performed ≥140 min of home-based exercise, at ≥50% of maximum heart rate to exceed 200 min of total exercise per week. Sleep was assessed by an accelerometer and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) before and after intervention.

Results: In the EX group, total sleep time, hours in waking after sleep onset, sleep efficiency and consecutive wake episodes ≥10 min (WE≥10 min) significantly improved (p<0.05). EX group showed a significantly greater reduction in WE≥10 min than the CON group (p<0.05). The subgroup analyses in the EX group according to baseline PSQI cutoff value showed no differences in changes between subgroups.

Conclusions: Three-month aerobic exercise improved objectively measured sleep quality in community-dwelling older people. Baseline sleep conditions did not significantly influence the magnitude of changes in sleep quality and quantity. These results suggest that light aerobic exercise can improve sleep among community-dwelling older people, regardless of baseline sleep status, but the effect may be small.