The Effect of Endurance Training on Sleep Quality in the Elderly: A Review Study

Introduction: One of the health-related problems in the older is their sleep disorders, which can negatively affect the quality of life of this age group. Since exercising and physical activity can have positive effects on the sleep quality in elders, the aim of this review is to systematically review the studies conducted in Iran on the effect of endurance training on the sleep quality of the elderly. Methods: In the present review, all articles related to the purpose of the study published up to April 2021 were reviewed. Search was performed in international databases PubMed, Scopus, web of science, google scholar as well as internal databases such as Magiran and SID with English and Persian keywords equivalent for training, sport, elderly, aging, sleep quality. Inclusion criteria included all published scientific research articles on sleep quality in Persian and English from 2010 to 2021 using “sleep quality “in the title. Exclusion criteria included abstracts of conference papers and non-English papers. Results: 2140 articles were found in the initial search, from which 9 articles were finally reviewed in line with the objectives of the present study. These articles were selected after eliminating duplicates and in terms of meeting the inclusion criteria. Findings of the reviewed studies indicated that performing endurance physical exercises in different types, significantly improved the sleep quality of the elderly. Conclusions: The results of this review study showed that different endurance exercises with moderate intensity have a significant positive effect on sleep quality in the elderly. It seems that the duration of the 12-week period and by repeating 3 sessions per week of endurance training has a positive effect on the sleep quality in the elderly. Investigating the long-term effects of these exercises on the sleep quality of the elderly needs further investigation.