Association between sleep disorders and physical activity in middle-aged Americans: Data from NHANES 2007-2018

Abstract

Abstract Background: Despite numerous studies on physical activity and sleep disorders, few have focused on physical activity and sleep disorders in middle-aged people who are particularly stressed. A restricted cubic web (RCS) technique was applied to determine whether there is a dose-response relationship between physical activity and the self-rated prevalence of sleep disorders in middle-aged adults. Methods: This study analyzed 8880 middle-aged adults aged 40-65 years who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007-2018. Logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) between physical activity and the risk of sleep disorders in middle-aged adults. Thereafter, the dose-response connection was examined using RCS. Results: After adjusting for potential confounders, subjects with MET values in the first quartile (Q1) compared to subjects with MET values in the second, third, and fourth quartiles had odds ratios (OR) for sleep disturbance that were0.851(95% CI=0.745–0.973), 0.800 (95% CI = 0.698–0.917) and 0.780 (95% CI = 0.680–0.895) , respectively. RCS regression showed a non-linear association between physical activity and sleep disorders in middle-aged adults (non-linearity P=0.0382). Furthermore, the prevalence of sleep disorders in middle-aged adults decreased with increasing physical activity, reaching a minimum when weekly physical activity was around 166.27MET*h(OR=0.885, 95% CI=0.799–0.981). Limitations：Self-reporting of sleep disorder and physical activity may be biased. Conclusion: Our research demonstrates that physical activity was associated with a reduced risk of sleep disorders.