Physical activity and self-reported sleep quality in adults with multiple sclerosis.
Katie L J Cederberg, Brenda Jeng, Jeffer E Sasaki and 3 others
PMID 34193388WHAT IT FOUND
More moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was weakly linked to better self-reported sleep quality in adults with multiple sclerosis.
Sedentary behavior and light activity showed no association. The overall model explained very little of the variance in sleep scores.
Key findings
01Time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was significantly but weakly associated with better global sleep quality scores.
02Sedentary behavior and light physical activity were not significantly associated with sleep quality.
03The statistical model including all activity types accounted for only 2.2% of the variance in sleep quality scores.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The cross-sectional design cannot prove that physical activity causes better sleep. The study did not screen for sleep disorders like obstructive sleep apnea, which are common in multiple sclerosis and could influence results. Sleep quality was measured by self-report over a month, while physical activity was measured objectively over seven days, creating a mismatch in timeframes. The sample was primarily Caucasian and had a wide range of disease duration, limiting generalizability to other groups. The statistical model accounted for only 2.2% of the variance in sleep scores, indicating that other factors likely play a much larger role.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that reducing sedentary behavior will improve sleep in adults with multiple sclerosis. This study found no significant association between time spent sitting and sleep quality.