SpringerLink
Log in

Sleep duration and physical function in people with severe obesity: a prospective cross-sectional study

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Irish Journal of Medical Science (1971 -) Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Subjects with severe obesity (BMI > 40 kg/m2) have worse physical function and sleep less than lean people (BMI 18.5–25 kg/m2).

Methods

In 554 subjects with severe obesity, we compared physical function in those with normal sleep duration (NSD, 6–9 h/night), short sleep duration (SSD, ≤ 6 h/night) and long sleep duration (LSD, ≥ 9 h/night).

Results

The mean (±SD) age and BMI were 43.1 (± 11.1) years and 50.9 ± 8.6 kg/m2 respectively. One hundred ninety-six (35.4%) were male. More subjects in the NSD group (n = 256) were able to ascend and descend a step 50 times than in the SSD group (n = 247) or the LSD group (n = 51, 75.5% vs 62.8% vs 56.9%, p = 0.002). A similar observation was made for step speed (0.45 ± 0.11 vs 0.43 ± 0.10 vs 0.40 ± 0.11 steps/s respectively, p = 0.001). NSD participants were less likely to have fallen in the preceding year compared to LSD participants (21.1% vs 39.2%, p = 0.007) and also reported less low back pain compared to SSD participants (60.8% vs 75.9%, p = 0.004).

Conclusions

In conclusion, abnormal sleep duration is associated with reduced physical function in non-elderly severely obese subjects. The effects of sleep hygiene interventions in this cohort warrant further assessment and may be beneficial to their physical function.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Flynn A, Walton J, Gibney M, Nugent A, McNulty B (2011) National Adult Nutrition Survey. University College Cork, Cork

    Google Scholar 

  2. Sturm R, Hattori A (2013) Morbid obesity rates continue to rise rapidly in the United States. Int J Obes (Lond) 37(6):889–891. https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2012.159

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Adams KF, Schatzkin A, Harris TB, Kipnis V, Mouw T, Ballard-Barbash R, Hollenbeck A, Leitzmann MF (2006) Overweight, obesity, and mortality in a large prospective cohort of persons 50 to 71 years old. The New England journal of medicine 355(8):763–778. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa055643

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Alley DE, Chang VW (2007) The changing relationship of obesity and disability, 1988-2004. JAMA: J Am Med Assoc 298(17):2020–2027. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.298.17.2020

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Newman AB, Simonsick EM, Naydeck BL, Boudreau RM, Kritchevsky SB, Nevitt MC, Pahor M, Satterfield S, Brach JS, Studenski SA, Harris TB (2006) Association of long-distance corridor walk performance with mortality, cardiovascular disease, mobility limitation, and disability. JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association 295(17):2018–2026. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.295.17.2018

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Nedeltcheva AV, Kilkus JM, Imperial J, Schoeller DA, Penev PD (2010) Insufficient sleep undermines dietary efforts to reduce adiposity. Annals of internal medicine 153(7):435–441. https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-153-7-201010050-00006

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Cappuccio FP, Taggart FM, Kandala NB, Currie A, Peile E, Stranges S, Miller MA (2008) Meta-analysis of short sleep duration and obesity in children and adults. Sleep 31(5):619–626

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Kutner NG, Schechtman KB, Ory MG, Baker DI (1994) Older adults’ perceptions of their health and functioning in relation to sleep disturbance, falling, and urinary incontinence. FICSIT Group. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 42(7):757–762

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Stenholm S, Kronholm E, Bandinelli S, Guralnik JM, Ferrucci L (2011) Self-reported sleep duration and time in bed as predictors of physical function decline: results from the InCHIANTI study. Sleep 34(11):1583–1593. https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.1402

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Goldman SE, Stone KL, Ancoli-Israel S, Blackwell T, Ewing SK, Boudreau R, Cauley JA, Hall M, Matthews KA, Newman AB (2007) Poor sleep is associated with poorer physical performance and greater functional limitations in older women. Sleep 30(10):1317–1324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Dam TT, Ewing S, Ancoli-Israel S, Ensrud K, Redline S, Stone K, Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Research Group (2008) Association between sleep and physical function in older men: the osteoporotic fractures in men sleep study. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 56(9):1665–1673. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2008.01846.x

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Droyvold WB, Nilsen TI, Kruger O et al (2006) Change in height, weight and body mass index: longitudinal data from the HUNT Study in Norway. Int J Obes (Lond) 30(6):935–939. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803178

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Ding J, Kritchevsky SB, Newman AB, Taaffe DR, Nicklas BJ, Visser M, Lee JS, Nevitt M, Tylavsky FA, Rubin SM, Pahor M, Harris TB, Health ABC Study (2007) Effects of birth cohort and age on body composition in a sample of community-based elderly. The American journal of clinical nutrition 85(2):405–410

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Balady GJ, Chaitman B, Driscoll D, Foster C, Froelicher E, Gordon N, Pate R, Rippe J, Bazzarre T (1998) Recommendations for cardiovascular screening, staffing, and emergency policies at health/fitness facilities. Circulation 97(22):2283–2293

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Al-Sharman A, Siengsukon CF (2014) Sleep-dependent learning of a functional motor task declines with age. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 62(9):1797–1798. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.13002

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Foley D, Ancoli-Israel S, Britz P, Walsh J (2004) Sleep disturbances and chronic disease in older adults: results of the 2003 National Sleep Foundation Sleep in America Survey. J Psychosom Res 56(5):497–502. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2004.02.010

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Miller DK, Wolinsky FD, Malmstrom TK et al (2005) Inner city, middle-aged African Americans have excess frank and subclinical disability. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 60(2):207–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Martin JL, Fiorentino L, Jouldjian S, Josephson KR, Alessi CA (2010) Sleep quality in residents of assisted living facilities: effect on quality of life, functional status, and depression. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 58(5):829–836. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2010.02815.x

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. Spira AP, Covinsky K, Rebok GW, Punjabi NM, Stone KL, Hillier TA, Ensrud KE, Yaffe K (2012) Poor sleep quality and functional decline in older women. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 60(6):1092–1098. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2012.03968.x

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Stenholm S, Kronholm E, Sainio P, Borodulin K, Era P, Fogelholm M, Partonen T, Porkka-Heiskanen T, Koskinen S (2010) Sleep-related factors and mobility in older men and women. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 65(6):649–657. https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glq017

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Tremblay MS, Colley RC, Saunders TJ et al (2010) Physiological and health implications of a sedentary lifestyle. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab 35(6):725–740. https://doi.org/10.1139/H10-079

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Irwin MR, Wang M, Campomayor CO, Collado-Hidalgo A, Cole S (2006) Sleep deprivation and activation of morning levels of cellular and genomic markers of inflammation. Arch Intern Med 166(16):1756–1762. https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.166.16.1756

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. King WC, Engel SG, Elder KA, Chapman WH, Eid GM, Wolfe BM, Belle SH (2012) Walking capacity of bariatric surgery candidates. Surg Obes Relat Dis 8(1):48–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soard.2011.07.003

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. O’Donoghue GM, Fox N, Heneghan C et al (2009) Objective and subjective assessment of sleep in chronic low back pain patients compared with healthy age and gender matched controls: a pilot study. BMC Musculoskelet Disord 10:122. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-10-122

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  25. Tang NK, McBeth J, Jordan KP, Blagojevic-Bucknall M, Croft P, Wilkie R (2015) Impact of musculoskeletal pain on insomnia onset: a prospective cohort study. Rheumatology (Oxford) 54(2):248–256. https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/keu283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Faraut B, Leger D, Medkour T et al (2015) Nap** reverses increased pain sensitivity due to sleep restriction. PloS one 10(2):e0117425. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0117425

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This work was supported by grants provided by the Health Research Board of Ireland [HPF/2010/37 to TA] and by the Irish Heart Foundation [0993704 to TA].

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Weight Management Service, St Columcille’s Hospital, Loughlinstown, County Dublin, Ireland

    Tomás Ahern, Emer O’Malley, Colin Dunlevy, Aftab Khattak & Donal O’Shea

  2. Obesity Research Group, Education and Research Centre, St Vincent’s University Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin 4, Ireland

    Tomás Ahern, Aftab Khattak & Donal O’Shea

  3. Department of Endocrinology, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland

    Helen O’Brien

  4. Department of Respiratory Medicine, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland

    Tidi Hassan

  5. School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, Health Sciences Centre, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland

    Tara Cusack

  6. Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, St Vincent’s University Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin 4, Ireland

    Walter T. McNicholas

Authors
  1. Tomás Ahern
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Emer O’Malley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Colin Dunlevy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Aftab Khattak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Helen O’Brien
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Tidi Hassan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Tara Cusack
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Walter T. McNicholas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Donal O’Shea
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Helen O’Brien.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Statement of informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ahern, T., O’Malley, E., Dunlevy, C. et al. Sleep duration and physical function in people with severe obesity: a prospective cross-sectional study. Ir J Med Sci 189, 517–523 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-019-02110-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-019-02110-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation