Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2006 Aug;4(3):215-221.
doi: 10.1111/j.1479-8425.2006.00235.x.

Epidemiology of exercise and sleep

Shawn D Youngstedt  1 , Christopher E Kline  1
Affiliations

Epidemiology of exercise and sleep

Shawn D Youngstedt et al. Sleep Biol Rhythms. 2006 Aug.

Abstract

Although exercise is widely believed to improve sleep, experimental evidence has found acute and chronic exercise to exert only modest effects on subsequent sleep. However, these studies are limited in that they have primarily used good sleepers (floor/ceiling effects). In contrast to experimental studies, epidemiologic studies have consistently reported significant positive associations between self-reported exercise habits and better self-reported sleep. This association has been confirmed across a wide range of demographics. Nonetheless, epidemiologic studies on this topic have also had limitations. They have often assessed exercise and sleep using instruments of dubious validity. Moreover, the studies have generally not included clinical diagnoses of sleep disorders. Thus, the clinical relevance of these findings is unclear. In addition, possible alternative explanations for the association of exercise and improved sleep have often not been controlled (e.g. bright light, other healthy behaviors). This review will focus on these epidemiologic studies. We will review and critique representative survey and epidemiologic studies of exercise and sleep and discuss directions for future research in this area.

Keywords: epidemiology; exercise; physical activity; sleep; sleep disorders.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Ancoli-Israel S. “Sleep is not tangible” or what the Hebrew tradition has to say about sleep. Psychosom. Med. 2001;63:778–787. - PubMed
    1. Ancoli-Israel S. All I Want Is a Good Night’s Sleep. Chicago: Mosby-Year Book Inc.; 1996.
    1. Dement WC, Vaughan C. The Promise of Sleep. New York: Delacorte Press; 1999.
    1. Lavie P. The Enchanted World of Sleep. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press; 1996.
    1. Youngstedt SD, O’Connor PJ, Dishman RK. The effects of acute exercise on sleep: a quantitative synthesis. Sleep. 1997;20:203–214. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources