Influences of physical level and chronotype on sleep during aging

Purpose: Aging is a physiological process, which can also affect sleep quality. With advancing aging, sleep quality may be also compromised by more accentuated morning preferences. Physical activity may improve sleep parameters due to its broad-spectrum action on different physiological variables. The present study evaluated the action of physical habits and chronotype on sleep parameters in elderly. Methods: The recruitment enrolled 100 Italian elderly (70.9 ± 6.3 years) that completed the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ), the International Physical Activity Questionnaire- Short Form (IPAQ-SF) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) for the assessment of chronotype (evening- [E-], intermediate- [N-], morning- [M-] types), physical activity and sleep quality, respectively. Results: PSQI final score for active subjects (5.3 ± 3.1) described a better sleep quality compared to inactive subjects (6.2 ± 3.4). The worse sleep quality for inactive subjects was associated with higher use of sleep medications (p = 0.003) and much more sleep disturbances (p = 0.003) and daytime dysfunctions (p = 0.006). As regard chronotype, N-types sleep better compared to M-types. This trend is visible also in the female stratification, with active N-type (3.9 ± 3) collecting lower PSQI value compared to active M-types (6.2 ± 3; p.05). Active M-type females make significantly less use of sleep medications (f = 0.05; p = 0.02) and had less sleep dysfunction (f = 0.03; p = 0.03) compared to inactive M-type females. Active N-types female reported less daytime dysfunctions (f = 0.03; p = 0.03) compared to inactive ones. Among males, active M-types reported significantly less disturbances compared to inactive M-types (f = 0.05; p.05). Conclusions: In general, inactive and M-types subjects sleep worse with respect to active and N-types, respectively. Inactive subjects had also more sleep disturbances and make greater use of sleep medications than active subjects did. An active lifestyle could be considered a useful tool to improve sleep habits and reduces sleep problems during aging.