Associations of accelerometer-measured sedentary behavior and physical activity with sleep in older adults

Chien-Yu Lin; Kun-Pei Lin; Ming-Chun Hsueh; Yung Liao

doi:10.1016/j.jfma.2023.08.001

Associations of accelerometer-measured sedentary behavior and physical activity with sleep in older adults

J Formos Med Assoc. 2023 Aug 14:S0929-6646(23)00296-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jfma.2023.08.001. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Chien-Yu Lin¹, Kun-Pei Lin², Ming-Chun Hsueh³, Yung Liao⁴

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa, Japan.
² Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: kplin@ntuh.gov.tw.
³ Graduate Institute of Sport Pedagogy, University of Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁴ Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa, Japan; Graduate Institute of Sport, Leisure and Hospitality Management, College of Sports and Recreation, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan.

PMID: 37586972
DOI: 10.1016/j.jfma.2023.08.001

Abstract

Background: Few studies have examined the non-linear relationships of objectively-measured sedentary behavior and physical activity with insomnia symptoms in older adults. We investigated such relationships of sedentary and physically-active behaviors with total sleep time and nocturnal wakefulness.

Methods: We recruited adults aged 60 years and above who have received health check-ups or been to geriatric outpatient services from a hospital setting. Sedentary and physically-active behaviors, total sleep time, and wakefulness time after sleep onset were measured by Actigraphy, and their relationships were estimated using generalized additive models.

Results: The 157 older adults receiving health-related services slept 7.5 h (20.8 min awake) on average per day. Total sleep time was negatively associated with sedentary and physically-active behaviors. By contrast, a U-shape relationship was found between sedentary behavior and wakefulness time after sleep onset, with a turning point at a daily sedentary time of 10.9 h.

Conclusion: Longer high-intensity physical activity time was related to a shorter wakefulness time after sleep onset. By contrast, daily sedentary time longer than 10.9 h was related to shorter total sleep time but more nocturnal wakefulness time. Future nonpharmacological strategies for sleep improvement should consider the sedentary threshold.

Keywords: Accelerometer; Active; Adults; Insomnia; Sitting.