Abstract
Purpose This study investigated the day-to-day variability of daily physical activity and its effect on sleep and mood in a longitudinal within-subjects study for 7 days and 6 nights. Materials and methods Healthy office employees aged 25–35 years with a sedentary lifestyle participated in the study. Seven-day sleep diaries were used to evaluate sleep patterns. Ten-point scales were used to measure the level of happiness and stress. Daily physical activity was measured in steps/day using pedometers. Two hundred forty-five steps/day scores and changes induced in sleep and mood were analysed. Results There is a relationship between daily physical activity and sleep/mood. An inverted U-shaped relationship may be assumed between sleep duration, sleep quality, feelings after waking up, and the number of steps/day. Increasing the number of steps/day decreases the level of stress and daytime sleepiness and increases sleep efficiency. Sleep efficiency/daytime sleepiness and sleep duration did not show any association. Conclusions Based on the results, after a physically exhausting day, decreased stress and improved sleep efficiency may be experienced, while sleep duration may decrease, which may reduce the participants’ motivation to develop an active lifestyle. For further studies, it would be crucial to use individual exercise intervention programmes to reinforce the positive effects of exercise on sleep and/or mood.
Highlights
Several studies have reported that physical activity has a small to moderate sleep-improving effect [1,2,3], and it has a significant, large, positive effect on subjective sleep quality [4, 5]
Based on the PSQI-HUN, the sleep quality of participants indicated poor sleep, and participants showed small, non-disruptive daytime sleepiness based on Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS)
This study examined the fluctuation of daily physical activity recorded by pedometers in sedentary adults as well as the changes induced in sleep and mood
Summary
Several studies have reported that physical activity has a small to moderate sleep-improving effect [1,2,3], and it has a significant, large, positive effect on subjective sleep quality [4, 5]. Many other factors play a significant role in the relationship between physical activity and sleep, such as motivation, mood, lifestyle, general well-being, and all of these factors can affect sleep itself [7]. There is a reciprocal relationship between sleep and mood [11], which, presumably, could be affected by physical activity. It is important to mention the fact that body mass index (BMI) is an important confounding factor in the relationship between physical activity and sleep/mood [12, 13], its specific role has not yet been investigated
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