Does Physical Activity Improve Sleep in Impaired Nursing Home Residents?

Abstract

This study supports our previous findings of marked sleep disruption in impaired nursing home residents. In addition, despite documented improvements in physical function with activity, we did not find improvements in sleep in the intervention versus control groups. These results suggest that increasing daytime physical activity alone is not adequate to improve sleep in impaired NH residents. Future efforts to improve sleep in this population should take into account the multifactorial nature of sleep disruption, including individual health problems that effect sleep and the disruptive nature of the nighttime NH environment.