ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1562813
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Role of Physical Activity in Healthy Aging: Mechanisms and InterventionsView all 15 articles
Associations of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior with Insomnia in Middle-aged and Elderly Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study
Provisionally accepted
- Wuhan Mental Health Center, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
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Objective: To explore the relationships between physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) levels and insomnia among middle-aged and elderly adults.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 3752 middle-aged and elderly adults over 50 years of age from Wuhan, China. PA and SB levels were assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)-Short Form. Insomnia was evaluated by the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Multivariate logistic regression was employed to estimate the impact of PA and SB on insomnia.Results: After adjusting for confounders, high levels of physical activity were found to be associated with lower odds ratios for mild insomnia compared with low levels of PA (OR (95% CIs) = 0.67 (0.50, 0.90)), while 3-6 hours/day and ≥6 hours/day of sedentary behavior were associated with higher odds ratios for mild insomnia compared with <3 hours/day of sedentary behavior (OR (95% CIs) = 1.41 (1.09, 1.83) and 1.71(1.19, 2.45), respectively). Similarly, moderate and high levels of physical activity were associated with lower odds ratios for moderate insomnia (OR (95% CIs) = 0.45 (0.28, 0.72) and 0.47 (0.30, 0.73), respectively), whereas ≥6 hours per day of sedentary behavior was associated with higher odds ratios for moderate insomnia (OR (95% CIs) = 2.47 (1.37, 4.45)).High levels of PA were significantly linked to a reduced risk of both mild (OR=0.67, 95% CIs: 0.50, 0.90, compared with low PA) and moderate to severe insomnia (OR=0.47, 95% CI: 0.31-0.70, compared with low PA). Sedentary behavior ≥3 hours/day increased insomnia risk, with the highest risk at ≥6 hours/day (OR=1.71 for mild, 2.47 for moderate-to-severe insomnia).
Keywords: physical activity, sedentary behavior, insomnia, Middle-aged and elderly adults, a cross-sectional study
Received: 20 Jan 2025; Accepted: 14 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lu, Mei, Chen, Chen and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Sijing Chen, Wuhan Mental Health Center, Wuhan, 430015, Hubei Province, China
Xiu Jun Liu, Wuhan Mental Health Center, Wuhan, 430015, Hubei Province, China
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