Intervention Effect of Two Different Exercise Modes on Sleep Quality of Patients with Primary Insomnia

  Objective  To explore the effect of two different exercise modes on sleep quality of patients with primary insomnia(PI), and to provide a new perspective and approach for the treatment of insomnia.

  Methods  By convenient sampling, a total of 16 male and 24 female insomniacs were randomly selected from No. 169 PLA Hospitals from 2017 to 2018. A single blind trial was conducted and aerobic training (AT) group and aerobic combined resistance training (AR) group were divided. Twenty people in each group were given exercise prescription for 4 months.

  Results  ① Compared with pre-experiment, there were significant differences in total sleep time, sleep efficiency, wake-up times, rapid eye movement(REM) sleep latency, non-REM sleep stageⅠ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ-Ⅳ and REM sleep between AT group and AR group after the experiment, showing the prolonged total sleep time, improved sleep efficiency, reduced number of awakenings and shortened latency of REM sleep. ② No significant difference between AT group and AR group was found in sleep latency, wake-up times after sleep, stage Ⅰ and Ⅱof non-REM sleep and lowest oxygen saturation; while there were significant differences in the non-REM sleep stageⅢ-Ⅳ and REM sleep stages with an increased total sleep time and the longer deep sleep time. ③ The serum levels of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α in the patients after the experiment were significantly lower than that before the experiment. ④After the experiment, there was no significant difference in serum IL-1βand TNF-α between the AT group and the AR group, while significant difference was found in IL-6.

  Conclusions  ① Most of PI patients have normal sleep structure, which belongs to subjective insomnia. Exercise can improve the sleep quality of patients by regulating the bad emotions such as tension and anxiety and inhibiting the over-awakening state. ② During resistance training, IL-6 released by skeletal muscle is involved in the immune regulation of the body and reduces the inflammatory response, thus improving the sleep quality of patients to a certain extent. ③ Both aerobic training and aerobic combined resistance training have a good effect on the improvement of sleep quality of PI patients; the latter is more prominent, mainly manifested in the further extension of the total sleep time.