Comparison of physical activity level with sleep quality in premenopausal and postmenopausal women Physical activity and sleep quality in menopause

Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the individual and combined associations of physical activity and sleep in premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Material and Method: Two hundred and fifty premenopausal (mean age: 45.50 +/- 2.10) and 250 postmenopausal (mean age: 60.27 +/- 3.03) women were evaluated. We compared age, body mass index (BMI), education, marital status, menopause age, jobs, medical conditions, smoking, physical activity and sleep quality using the Women's Health Initiative Insomnia Rating Scale between groups. The SPSS 22.0 program was used for thre statistical analysis of the research data. Frequency and percentage (average, standard deviation) were used as descriptive statistics of the study. Non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, Spearman correlation test) were performed for comparison of the variables, which did not comply with the normal distribution. Significance was accepted as p<0.05. Results: Sleep quality scores were better in premenopausal women when compared with postmenopausal women (p<0.000). No significant differences were found in BMI (p=0.691). The mean menopause age was 47.56 +/- 4.91 in postmenopausal women. Postmenopausal women's physical activity and sleep quality was worse than in premenopausal women. Thirty-four premenopausal (14 of them walking, 8 of them swimming, 12 of them fitness) and 12 postmenopausal (8 of them walking, 4 of them swimming) women had physical activity. In all women, exercise training participants had better sleep quality. Those who exercised had better sleep quality in both groups (p<0.000). No significant differences were found in sleep quality between those premenopausal and postmenopausal women who exercised. Discussion: Objective sleep measures differed significantly between the pre- and postmenopausal groups. These findings provide strong evidence that sleep qualities are more favorable in highly active women relative to less active women.