Long Sleep Duration and Sarcopenia According to Physical Activity Level in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Although several studies have shown that long sleep duration is associated with sarcopenia, there has been insufficient analysis of the involvement of physical activity patterns in this association. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether long sleep duration was associated with sarcopenia while considering physical activity.

A total of 2855 older community-dwelling people (mean age: 75.6 ± 4.1 years, 52.2% female) from the National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology Study of Geriatric Syndromes were analyzed. Sleep duration was assessed using a self-reported questionnaire, and the participants with sleep duration of ≥ 9 h were assigned to the group with long sleep duration. Physical activity was measured using a triaxial accelerometer and each participant's duration (min/day) of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) was calculated. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of sarcopenia.

Of the 2855 participants, 118 (4.1%) were classified as having sarcopenia. Long sleep duration was significantly associated with sarcopenia after adjusting for covariates (OR: 2.09, 95% CI: 1.01-4.29, Model 1). In Model 2, in which MVPA was also adjusted for, this association was weaker (OR: 2.02, 95% CI: 0.98-4.18). After dividing the participants according to MVPA, while long sleep duration was not associated with sarcopenia in participants with higher physical activity (OR: 1.37, 95% CI: 0.47-3.99), it was in those with lower physical activity (OR: 3.34, 95% CI: 1.21-9.21).

This study suggests that the association between long sleep duration and sarcopenia appeared to be stronger among older adults with lower physical activity.