Relationships between Physical Activity, Sleeping Time, and Psychological Distress in Community-Dwelling Elderly Japanese

Yukio Yamamoto,Hiromi Suzuki,Nobuyuki Miyatake,Yutaka Owari

doi:10.3390/medicina55070318

Abstract

Background and objectives: It is well-known that lifestyle is closely associated with psychological distress in many elderly subjects. However, the effect of intervention with physical activity and/or sleeping on psychological distress has not been fully discussed. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the relationships between physical activity, sleeping time, and psychological distress in community-dwelling elderly Japanese subjects. Materials and Methods: A total of 108 elderly Japanese (31 men and 77 women) subjects were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Psychological distress was evaluated using the K6 questionnaire. Physical activity, including sedentary behavior, was measured using a tri-accelerometer. Sleeping time was evaluated using a self-reported questionnaire. Results: The median of the K6 scores was 1.0 (0–18), and the sedentary behavior (%) and walking time (minutes/day) were 57.2 ± 10.7 and 80.7 (17.9–222.4), respectively. Sleeping time was negatively correlated with psychological distress. In addition, multiple linear regression showed that walking time and sleeping time were important factors for psychological distress, even after adjusting for confounding factors. Conclusions: These results suggest that increased walking time and sleeping time may be beneficial for reducing psychological distress in community-dwelling elderly Japanese subjects.

Highlights

The number of elderly people has been markedly increasing in Japan, with the proportion of elderly subjects reported to be 27.7% in a national survey [1]
These results suggest that increased walking time and sleeping time may be beneficial for reducing psychological distress in community-dwelling elderly Japanese subjects
Sleeping time evaluated has often been evaluated byquestionnaires, use of simple averagealthough sleepingaverage time has often been by use of simple questionnaires, seven-day average would provide more accurate and beneficial seven-day average sleeping records wouldsleeping providerecords more accurate and beneficial information. In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated the relationships among physical activity, sleeping. In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated the relationships among physical activity, sleeping time, and psychological distress in community-dwelling elderly Japanese subjects living in rural areas time, and psychological distress in community-dwelling elderly Japanese subjects living in rural in western Japan

Summary

Introduction

The number of elderly people has been markedly increasing in Japan, with the proportion of elderly subjects reported to be 27.7% in a national survey [1]. Appropriate strategies for preventing and reducing psychological distress in elderly Japanese subjects are urgently required It is well-known that lifestyle factors, including physical activity [4,5,6,7,8,9], diet [10,11], sleeping [12,13,14,15,16,17], cigarette smoking [18,19], and alcohol consumption [20,21], are closely linked to psychological distress.

Methods

Results

Conclusion