Exploring the physical activity level and sleep quality among a cohort of healthy females in Egypt: a cross-sectional survey

D.M. Kamel, S.A. Tantawy, N. Alsayed, A.H. Bekhet, N. Algabarty, H. Zahran, E. Rajab, S.H. Elsayed, W.K. Abdelbasset

Department of Physical Therapy for Women’s Health, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University, Egypt. dr_daliakamel@cu.edu.eg

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• Physical Therapy

OBJECTIVE: In healthy adults, the short-term effects of sleep disruption include disorders of mood, impaired coping ability, deficits in cognition, and reduced quality of life. Increased physical activity may improve sleep duration and quality. The aim was to investigate the physical activity level and sleep quality and their relationship among a cohort of healthy females in Egypt.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional, self-reported survey. 688 healthy young adult females aged 18-45 years without a prior history of chronic disease were recruited for this study. Demographic data as well as physical activity (International Physical Activity Questionnaire) and sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) were collected.

RESULTS: 73.5% reported poor sleep quality, which was worse for housewives. 50.4% of participants were either obese or overweight. Approximately 29.7% of the participants were physically inactive. High physical activity levels were associated with higher sleep efficiency compared to moderate physical activity (p=0.01). However, high physical activity resulted in poorer sleep quality overall (p=0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: The majority of participants reported poor sleep quality and high levels of physical activity, but the relationship between physical activity and sleep quality was not clear. Poor sleep quality in our study is one of, if not the highest, reported in the literature for a similar age range in females.

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