Relationship between volume of physical activity and sleep quality among college students

Abstract

Physical activity (PA) and sleep quality (SQ) are crucial components of a healthy lifestyle. College students have a high prevalence of poor SQ. PA may be an important way to improve SQ. The main purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between volume of physical activity and sleep quality among college students. Participants (n=159) were college students who enrolled at a regional university. Recruitment was done by email blast with online survey link. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were used to analyze PA and SQ. Total PA, vigorous PA, moderate PA, and light PA were calculated from the IPAQ in MET·min·wk-1. PSQI includes a global sleep quality index with seven component scores. Pearson correlation was used to analyze the relationship between volume of PA and SQ. Independent-t tests and one-way ANOVAs were used to compare differences in SQ in groups created based on volume of reported PA. No significant relationships were observed between any PA variable and SQ. The independent t-test comparing those reporting no vigorous PA and those reporting any vigorous PA showed significantly better SQ in those reporting any vigorous PA (t =-2.14, p=.03). When looking at SQ differences between groups formed based on reported volume of vigorous PA, a significant difference was found (F = 4.79, p=.01). Those reporting a low volume of vigorous PA had significantly better SQ than those reporting no vigorous PA (p = .01) and a trend toward better SQ when compared to those reporting a high volume of vigorous PA (p = .08). The conclusion of this study was that college students who reported small amounts of vigorous activity reported better SQ as compared to vigorously inactive college students. This study could help to understand the importance of PA to improve sleep quality among college students.