Effect of physical activity on sleep problems in sedentary adults: a scoping systematic review

This systematic review was steered forward with the aim of analyzing how different forms of exercise could influence the objective and subjective sleep outcome among sedentary adults with sleep problems. A pre-detailed study protocol (PROSPERO ID: CRD42021229649) was used to search for RCTs through five databases. The methodological quality of the included RCTs was assessed by PEDro and studies were included if they scored > 5. Effect size of all outcome measures were calculated using Cohen's d. Of the 4154 studies, 19 studies met the inclusion criteria and underwent quality assessment using 11-point PEDRO scale. 9 studies with PEDro score > 5 were finally included in this systematic review out of which, participants of 4 studies had insomnia (n(range) = 37-48, age(range) = 44-60 years), 3 studies had poor sleep quality (n(range) = 80-275, age(range )= 52-70 years) and 2 studies had obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (n(range) = 26-68, age(range) = 51 years). Majority of studies revealed that physical activity seems to have greater improvement with a large effect size on subjective sleep outcomes among sedentary adults with sleep problems like insomnia, poor sleep quality and OSAS, whereas limited studies and non-significant results were observed on objective sleep outcomes. Physical activity improves sleep outcomes especially among sedentary middle-aged and older adults. More research is needed to examine the effect of physical activity programs on objective sleep outcomes especially in younger sedentary adults with different sleep problems.