Which exercise prescription is most effective for patients with sleep disorders?: a network meta-analysis of 30...

Reasonable exercise intervention can effectively improve sleep disorders, but the best combination of exercise prescription variables is not yet clear. This study compares the effects of different combinations of exercise prescription variables on the sleep quality of people with sleep disorders through a network meta-analysis, providing strong evidence for the development of effective exercise intervention programs. Searches were conducted through five databases: Web of Science, PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, and Scopus, with the search date cut-off being September 30, 2024. Stata 17.0 and RevMan 5.4 software tools were used to generate network evidence plots and funnel plots, and the surface under the cumulative ranking was used to rank the impact of each exercise prescription variable. Sensitivity analysis was also conducted using a one-by-one elimination method to verify the robustness of the results. Following the PICOS principle and PRISMA guidelines, this study included 30 randomized controlled trial articles involving 2576 subjects, with data extraction independently completed by two researchers. The results of the network meta-analysis show that the optimal exercise prescription combination is yoga with a frequency of twice a week, a duration of ≤ 30 min, lasting 8-10 weeks, and performed at high intensity. This study indicates that high-intensity yoga, twice a week, with a duration of ≤ 30 min, and lasting 8-10 weeks, has the best effect on improving the sleep quality of people with sleep disorders. Further, high-quality research is needed to confirm these findings due to the limited studies included.