Open Access
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Sleep Sci 2024; 17(S 01): S1-S89
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1811858
Sleep Science Supplement 2024

Individuals who Exercise Regularly have a Shorter Sleep Latency and Perceive a Higher Quality of Sleep

Autoren

  • Marta Carolina Ramos Paixão

    1   Laboratory of Psychobiology and Physical Exercise – Instituto Federal do Tocantis, Araguatins, TO, Brazil

  • Guilherme Umemura

    2   Sleep Institute, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

  • Katie Almondes

    3   Department of Psychology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil

  • Marco Aurélio Oliveira

    1   Laboratory of Psychobiology and Physical Exercise – Instituto Federal do Tocantis, Araguatins, TO, Brazil
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Keywords

physical exercise - physical activity - sleep

Introduction: Sleep is a restorative biological process essential for the proper functioning of the human body. Simultaneously, physical activity has been widely recognized as an effective non-pharmacological intervention in the primary treatment of various sleep disorders, contributing to improved sleep quality.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the practice of physical activity and its relationship with sleep quality in a population from the city of Araguatins, located in the Bico do Papagaio region, in the northern part of the state of Tocantins, Brazil.

Methods: A total of 162 individuals aged between 18 and 60 years participated in the study, including 93 men and 69 women (mean age = 30.0 ± 9.28 years; BMI = 24.7 ± 4.35). Volunteers responded online to the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ).

Results: The representativeness of the sample was evaluated with a 95% confidence level and an 8% margin of error. Individuals with high physical activity scores showed better sleep quality, as measured by the PSQI, compared to less physically active individuals, even after subcategorization between poor sleep quality (7.76 ± 1.78 vs. 9.30 ± 2.98) and good sleep quality (3.25 ± 1.66 vs. 4.60 ± 0.632) (p < 0.001). Significant differences were also observed in subjective sleep quality, assessed by the PSQI, among those with higher and lower levels of physical activity, assessed by the IPAQ; both in participants with poor sleep quality (1.11 ± 0.567 vs. 1.39 ± 0.656) and good sleep quality (0.500 ± 0.561 vs. 0.867 ± 0.640) (p < 0.05). Furthermore, more physically active individuals had shorter sleep latency compared to participants with both poor sleep quality (1.41 ± 1.02 vs. 2.04 ± 1.64) and good sleep quality (0.417 ± 0.604 vs. 0.933 ± 0.594) (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: In the studied group, individuals with higher levels of physical activity demonstrated better overall sleep quality compared to less physically active individuals. These results remain consistent when evaluating subjective sleep quality and sleep latency.


Die Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht.

Publikationsverlauf

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
16. September 2025

© 2025. Brazilian Sleep Academy. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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