Effect of exercise training on improving sleep disturbances: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized control trials

ObjectivesExercise training has beneficial effects on various aspects of health. This study aimed to investigate the effect of exercise training on the improvement of sleep disturbances using systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized control trials.MethodFour indexes of scientific information including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and the Cochrane library were selected and all manuscripts of these sources were searched in English until January 2021. The studies were screened and finally, the studies were entered into meta-analysis and the Standardized Mean Difference (SMD) was calculated, and the analyzes were performed based on the random effects method. Publication bias and heterogeneity were examined in all analyzes.ResultA total of 32 studies were included in the meta-analysis. Meta-analysis showed that exercise training is effective in improving sleep quality (SMD = −0.85 and confidence interval (CI) was −1.16-0.54; P < 0.001). Exercise training improving insomnia (SMD = −0.87 and CI was −1.68-0.06; P = 0.036). Exercise training improves sleepiness (SMD = −0.38 and CI was −0.68-0.07; P = 0.016), obstructive sleep apnea (SMD = −0.40 and CI was −0.67-0.14; P = 0.003) and restless legs syndrome (SMD = −1.02 and CI was −1.56-0.49; P < 0.001).DiscussionExercise training has beneficial effects on a variety of sleep disturbances and therefore it can be said that providing the necessary conditions for exercise training can play a major role in promoting health, especially since this type of intervention is a non-pharmacological intervention.