Effects of physical activity at work and life-style on sleep in workers from an Amazonian Extractivist Reserve

Physical activity has been recommended as a strategy for improving sleep. Nevertheless, physical effort at work might not be not the ideal type of activity to promote sleep quality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of type of job (low vs. high physical effort) and life-style on sleep of workers from an Amazonian Extractivist Reserve, Brazil. A cross-sectional study of 148 low physical activity (factory workers) and 340 high physical activity (rubber tappers) was conducted between September and November 2011. The workers filled out questionnaires collecting data on demographics (sex, age, occupation, marital status and children), health (reported morbidities, sleep disturbances, musculoskeletal pain and body mass index) and life-style (smoking, alcohol use and practice of leisure-time physical activity). Logistic regression models were applied with the presence of sleep disturbances as the primary outcome variable. The prevalence of sleep disturbances among factory workers and rubber tappers was 15.5% and 27.9%, respectively. The following independent variables of the analysis were selected based on a univariate model (p<0.20): sex, age, marital status, work type, smoking, morbidities and musculoskeletal pain. The predictors for sleep disturbances were type of job (high physical effort); sex (female); age (>40 years), and having musculoskeletal pain (≥5 symptoms). Rubber tapper work, owing to greater physical effort, pain and musculoskeletal fatigue, was associated with sleep disturbances. Being female and older than 40 years were also predictors of poor sleep. In short, these findings suggest that demanding physical exertion at work may not improve sleep quality.