Association Between Physical Activity Levels and Chronic Disease Risk Among Korean Adults with Sleep Deficiency.

Background/

Objectives

This study investigated the association between physical activity (PA) levels and the risk of chronic diseases in Korean adults with sleep deficiency (SD).

Methods

Data were obtained from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016-2021; n = 31,338). SD was defined as less than 7 h of sleep per night. The PA levels were categorized as low, moderate, or high. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for various chronic diseases, adjusting for demographic and lifestyle covariates.

Results

High PA levels were associated with lower odds of abdominal obesity (OR = 0.855, 95% CI = 0.782-0.934, p < 0.001), hypertension (OR = 0.787, 95% CI = 0.657-0.942, p < 0.01), diabetes mellitus (OR = 0.743, 95% CI = 0.622-0.887, p < 0.01), and metabolic syndrome (OR = 0.706, 95% CI = 0.586-0.850, p < 0.001). Moderate PA showed similar but weaker associations. Conversely, high PA levels were associated with higher odds of depression (OR = 1.474, 95% CI = 1.123-1.935, p < 0.01). Subgroup analyses indicated that the protective effects of PA were stronger among women, non-smokers, and individuals with obesity.

Conclusions

Among adults with SD, moderate-to-vigorous PA is associated with a lower odds of several metabolic disorders, including abdominal obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. This highlights the importance of regular PA in maintaining metabolic health. However, a positive association between high PA and depression should warrant further investigation, as reverse causality or residual confounding may explain this association.