Acute Effects of Physical Exercise on Sleep Quality in Patients with Parkinson's Disease

Abstract

Parkinson's Disease (PD) causes a wide range of motor and non-motor symptoms, including impaired sleep quality, with repercussions on the quality of life and well-being of people with this disease. Physical exercise (PE) has been shown to be effective in improving the quality and quantity of sleep in the general population, but studies on people with PD are scarce. The present dissertation aims to investigate the effect of PE on the quality and quantity of sleep in people with PD. The first part of the work consists of a systematic review with metaanalysis. The results showed that low-intensity PE promotes significant improvements in subjective sleep quality. Additionally, the literature on objectively assessed sleep quality is scarce. Therefore, the second part of the present dissertation aims to explore the acute effect of PE on the quality, efficiency and quantity of sleep in people with PD. Eight subjects with PD (75.00±7.01 years; 25% women) wore an Actigraph accelerometer and a Garmin watch on their wrists for 9 days. All subjects were present in two PE sessions on nonconsecutive days. In addition to sleep, handgrip strength, walking time at 4 meters and the subjects' regular physical activity were evaluated. Overall, the results showed that the vast majority of sleep variables are not affected by acute exercise. However, significant associations were found between physical fitness, physical activity levels and variables associated with the subjects' quality, efficiency and sleep time. We can conclude that participation in regular PE programs as inducers of improvements in the physical fitness of people with PD may be associated with improvements in sleep indicators.