Afternoon and early evening exercise tied to sleep disturbance in fibromyalgia: Study

Written By : Dr Satabdi Saha |Medically Reviewed By : Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli Published On 2021-01-13T11:22:08+05:30 | Updated On 13 Jan 2021 11:22 AM IST

A recent study published in Journal of Sleep Research , has highlighted that in fibromyalgia (FM), increased afternoon and early evening physical activity is associated with sleep disturbance, and this relationship is stronger in individuals with higher pain.

Patients with fibromyalgia (FM) suffer from chronic pain, which limits physical activity and is associated with disturbed sleep. However, the relationship between physical activity, pain and sleep is unclear in these patients.

Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic musculoskeletal pain disorder. Although pain is the primary chronic symptom, disturbed sleep is also a major symptom of patients with FMS. Patients report difficulty falling asleep, significantly more nighttime awakenings, and unrefreshing sleep.

This recent study examined whether actigraphic (Actiwatch‐2, Philips Respironics) afternoon and evening activity and pain are associated with actigraphic sleep.

Data analysis revealed the following facts.

Adults with FM and insomnia complaints (n = 160, mean age [Mage] = 52, SD = 12, 94% female) completed 14 days of actigraphy.
Activity levels (i.e., activity counts per minute) were recorded, and average afternoon/evening activity for intervals 12:00–3:00 PM, 3:00–6:00 PM and 6:00–9:00 PM was computed.
Multiple linear regressions examined whether afternoon/evening activity, pain (daily evening diaries from 0 [no pain sensation] to 100 [most intense pain imaginable]), or their interaction, predicted sleep onset latency (SOL), wake time after sleep onset (WASO), total sleep time (TST) and sleep efficiency (SE).
Greater afternoon activity was independently associated with lower SE (B = −0.08, p < .001), lower TST (β = −0.36, standard error [SE] = 0.06, p < .001) and longer WASO (B = 0.34, p < .001).
Greater early evening activity was independently associated with lower SE (B = −0.06, p < .001), lower TST (β = −0.26, SE = 0.06, p < .001) and longer WASO (B = 0.23, p < .001).

Self‐reported pain intensity interacted with afternoon and early evening physical activity, such that associations between higher activity and lower sleep efficiency were stronger for individuals reporting higher pain. Late evening activity was not associated with sleep outcomes.

For the full article , follow the link:

https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.13220

Primaryy source: Journal of Sleep Research

Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicineevening physical activitysleep disturbancefibromyalgia

Source : Journal of Sleep Research

Dr Satabdi Saha

Dr Satabdi Saha (BDS, MDS) is a practicing pediatric dentist with a keen interest in new medical researches and updates. She has completed her BDS from North Bengal Dental College ,Darjeeling. Then she went on to secure an ALL INDIA NEET PG rank and completed her MDS from the first dental college in the country – Dr R. Ahmed Dental College and Hospital. She is currently attached to The Marwari Relief Society Hospital as a consultant along with private practice of 2 years. She has published scientific papers in national and international journals. Her strong passion of sharing knowledge with the medical fraternity has motivated her to be a part of Medical Dialogues.

Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli

Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751