Sleep, Sedentary Time and Physical Activity Levels in Children with Cystic Fibrosis

Mayara S Bianchim; Melitta A McNarry; Alan R Barker; Craig A Williams; Sarah Denford; Anne E Holland; Narelle S Cox; Julianna Dreger; Rachel Evans; Lena Thia; Kelly A Mackintosh

doi:10.3390/ijerph19127133

Sleep, Sedentary Time and Physical Activity Levels in Children with Cystic Fibrosis

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jun 10;19(12):7133. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19127133.

Authors

Mayara S Bianchim¹, Melitta A McNarry¹, Alan R Barker², Craig A Williams², Sarah Denford², Anne E Holland^{3

4

5}, Narelle S Cox^{3

4}, Julianna Dreger³, Rachel Evans⁶, Lena Thia⁷, Kelly A Mackintosh¹

Affiliations

¹ Applied Sports, Technology, Exercise and Medicine Research Centre, Bay Campus, Swansea, Wales SA1 8EN, UK.
² Children's Health and Exercise Research Centre, University of Exeter, Exeter EX1 2LU, UK.
³ Respiratory Research@Alfred, Department of Immunology, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia.
⁴ Institute for Breathing and Sleep, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia.
⁵ Physiotherapy, Alfred Health, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia.
⁶ Paediatric Department, Morriston Hospital, Swansea SA6 6NL, UK.
⁷ Department of Paediatric Respiratory Medicine and Cystic Fibrosis Unit, Noah's Ark Children's Hospital for Wales, Cardiff CF14 4XW, UK.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare the use of generic and cystic fibrosis (CF)-specific cut-points to assess movement behaviours in children and adolescents with CF. Physical activity (PA) was assessed for seven consecutive days using a non-dominant wrist-worn ActiGraph GT9X in 71 children and adolescents (36 girls; 13.5 ± 2.9 years) with mild CF. CF-specific and generic Euclidean norm minus one (ENMO) cut-points were used to determine sedentary time (SED), sleep, light physical activity (LPA), moderate physical activity and vigorous physical activity. The effect of using a CF-specific or generic cut-point on the relationship between PA intensities and lung function was determined. Movement behaviours differed significantly according to the cut-point used, with the CF-specific cut-points resulting in less time asleep (−31.4 min; p < 0.01) and in LPA (−195.1 min; p < 0.001), and more SED and moderate-to-vigorous PA (159.3 and 67.1 min, respectively; both p < 0.0001) than the generic thresholds. Lung function was significantly associated with LPA according to the CF-specific cut-points (r = 0.52; p = 0.04). Thresholds developed for healthy populations misclassified PA levels, sleep and SED in children and adolescents with CF. This discrepancy affected the relationship between lung function and PA, which was only apparent when using the CF-specific cut-points. Promoting LPA seems a promising strategy to enhance lung function in children and adolescents with CF.

Keywords: ENMO; MVPA; accelerometry; clinical; lung function; threshold.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Accelerometry / methods
Adolescent
Child
Cystic Fibrosis*
Exercise
Female
Humans
Sedentary Behavior*
Sleep

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Cystic Fibrosis Trust UK under its programme grant for Strategic Research Centres (grant reference No RP-PG-0108-10011). The funder had no role in the conduct of the study, the writing of the manuscript, or the decision to submit it for publication.