Publicação
Time of day effect of physical activity on insomnia: a systematic literature review
| Resumo: | The practice of regular physical activity is a common sleep hygiene recommendation as a heath promoting behaviour. However, it is not completely evident in the literature whether a specific time of day (morning vs. evening) is more advisable (or should be avoided) for exercising to improve sleep, particularly in people with insomnia. Therefore, the main aim of the present review was to verify whether a time-of-day effect exists when exploring the impact of physical activity on insomnia.A systematic literature search was performed using PubMed electronic database. The terms “Physical Activity” and “Insomnia” were entered in the search engine and the following filters were selected: Text Availability: Full Text; Species: Humans; Language: English, French and Portuguese; Age: Adult (19-44 years) and middle aged (45-64 years); Publication date (custom range): start 2000/1/1 end 2022/3/11. The exclusion criteria were: articles with abstracts that did not refer insomnia or physical activity, studies focusing on specific diseases, populations or life stages, articles evaluating other therapeutic strategies such as cognitive-behavioural therapy or pharmacological interventions, studies not exploring the time-of day effect of physical activity on sleep of individuals with insomnia.Considering the nine eligible studies selected for further analysis, it was observed that five studies explored the effects of physical activity on sleep of individuals experiencing sleep difficulties at different schedules of the day. The other four studies investigated the effect of physical activity at a specific time of day on sleep. No consistent pattern of results was observed throughout the studies analysed. Studies diverged considerably relatively to the methods applied (study design, sample sociodemographic characteristics, insomnia definition, sleep and activity assessment and time-of-day of physical activity explored) which compromised comparisons between studies and, consequently, jeopardized conclusions. Based on the studies analysed, because of their diverging methodologies and results, it is difficult to ascertain a specific time-of-day that should be recommended or not advisable for practicing physical activity to promote or improve sleep of individuals experiencing insomnia. Further studies are needed to explore the time-of-day effect of physical activity on sleep of people experiencing insomnia. |
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| Autores principais: | Vale, Diogo Pereira de Lucena e |
| Assunto: | Insónia Atividade Física Sono Hora do dia Insomnia Physical Activity Sleep Time of day |
| Ano: | 2023 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | dissertação de mestrado |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso aberto |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade de Coimbra |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | Estudo Geral - Universidade de Coimbra |
| Resumo: | The practice of regular physical activity is a common sleep hygiene recommendation as a heath promoting behaviour. However, it is not completely evident in the literature whether a specific time of day (morning vs. evening) is more advisable (or should be avoided) for exercising to improve sleep, particularly in people with insomnia. Therefore, the main aim of the present review was to verify whether a time-of-day effect exists when exploring the impact of physical activity on insomnia.A systematic literature search was performed using PubMed electronic database. The terms “Physical Activity” and “Insomnia” were entered in the search engine and the following filters were selected: Text Availability: Full Text; Species: Humans; Language: English, French and Portuguese; Age: Adult (19-44 years) and middle aged (45-64 years); Publication date (custom range): start 2000/1/1 end 2022/3/11. The exclusion criteria were: articles with abstracts that did not refer insomnia or physical activity, studies focusing on specific diseases, populations or life stages, articles evaluating other therapeutic strategies such as cognitive-behavioural therapy or pharmacological interventions, studies not exploring the time-of day effect of physical activity on sleep of individuals with insomnia.Considering the nine eligible studies selected for further analysis, it was observed that five studies explored the effects of physical activity on sleep of individuals experiencing sleep difficulties at different schedules of the day. The other four studies investigated the effect of physical activity at a specific time of day on sleep. No consistent pattern of results was observed throughout the studies analysed. Studies diverged considerably relatively to the methods applied (study design, sample sociodemographic characteristics, insomnia definition, sleep and activity assessment and time-of-day of physical activity explored) which compromised comparisons between studies and, consequently, jeopardized conclusions. Based on the studies analysed, because of their diverging methodologies and results, it is difficult to ascertain a specific time-of-day that should be recommended or not advisable for practicing physical activity to promote or improve sleep of individuals experiencing insomnia. Further studies are needed to explore the time-of-day effect of physical activity on sleep of people experiencing insomnia. |
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