BACKGROUND: This study sought to determine the 12-month effects of exercise increases on objective and subjective sleep quality in initially inactive older persons with mild to moderate sleep complaints. METHODS: A nonclinical sample of underactive adults 55 years old or older (n = 66) with mild to moderate chronic sleep complaints were randomly assigned to a 12-month program of primarily moderate-intensity endurance exercise (n = 36) or a health education control program (n = 30). The main outcome measure was polysomnographic sleep recordings, with additional measures of subjective sleep quality, physical activity, and physical fitness. Directional hypotheses were tested. RESULTS: Using intent-to-treat methods, at 12 months exercisers, relative to controls, spent significantly less time in polysomnographically measured stage 1 sleep (between-arm difference 2.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.7 to 4.0; p = 0.003), spent more time in stage 2 sleep (between-arm difference 3.2, 95% CI 0.6 to 5.7; p = 0.04), and had fewer awakenings during the first third of the sleep period (between-arm difference 1.0, 95% CI 0.39 to 1.55; p = 0.03). Exercisers also reported greater 12-month improvements relative to controls in Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) sleep disturbance subscale score (p = 0.009), sleep diary-based minutes to fall asleep (p = 0.01), and feeling more rested in the morning (p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with general health education, a 12-month moderate-intensity exercise program that met current physical activity recommendations for older adults improved some objective and subjective dimensions of sleep to a modest degree. The results suggest additional areas for investigation in this understudied area.
Copyright the Gerontological Society of America. Reproduced by permission of the publisher.

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