8352 Association Between Sleep and Physical Activity Among Women with Obesity and Infertility
Authors: Brûlé Kathryne , Jean-Denis Farrah , Belan Matea , Langlois Marie-France , Ruchat Stephanie-May , Baillargeon Jean-Patrice 
Published: October 2024

Disclosure: K. Brûlé: None. F. Jean-Denis: None. M. Belan: None. M. Langlois: None. S. Ruchat: None. J. Baillargeon: Grant Recipient; Self; Ferring Pharmaceuticals.

BACKGROUND: Infertility affects up to 15% of couples and a major modifiable risk factor is obesity. Thus, it has been recommended that women with obesity should be assisted to adopt healthy lifestyle behaviors prior to conception. Also, individuals with obesity often present reduced sleep quantity and quality, which could affect their physical activity (PA) practice. On the other hand, PA seems to improve sleep quality. Regular practice of PA could also improve an individual’s functional capacity, and thus could be an objective measure of a person's level of PA. Hence, our study aimed to: 1) compare the sleep quantity of women with obesity and infertility to the Canadian population; and 2) determine the relationship between their PA practice, functional capacity and sleep quantity and quality. Methods: This cross-sectional study is nested within a multicenter randomized controlled trial recruiting women of 18-40 years old with obesity and infertility in Canadian fertility clinics. At their initial research visit, they were assessed for body mass index (BMI), functional capacity (distance at 6-min walk test); total energy expenditure (EE, kcal/day), total PA (steps/day) and time spent in light (min/day) or moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA, min/day) or sedentarity (min/day) (Fitbit monitor); as well as sleep quality and duration (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index questionnaire and Fitbit monitor), and total time asleep per night (Fitbit monitor). For the Canadian population, we used the mean sleep duration of women aged 18-60 years reported in the Canadian Community Health Survey of 2020. Associations were tested using Pearson’s correlations (some measures were made normally distributed by square root transformation). Results: A total of 98 women (mean age = 31.5 years and mean BMI = 39.2 kg/m2) from 5 centers were included, 48% of whom were recruited in Sherbrooke (Qc). Their sleep duration was significantly lower than that of Canadian women (7.2±1.1 vs 8.1 h; p&lt;0.001). Poor perceived sleep quality was negatively associated with EE (r=-0.271; p=0.020) and steps (r=-0.280; p=0.026), but directly with sedentary time (r=0.277; p=0.033). Light PA was negatively associated with measured sleep duration (r=-0.241; p=0.016), but positively associated with measured sleep efficiency (r=0.237; p=0.036). Functional capacity is positively associated with measures of EE, steps and MVPA (r=0.239 to 0.347; p=0.005 to 0.031), and there is a tendency with total time asleep (r=0.238, p=0.061). Conclusion: Canadian women with obesity and infertility have, on average, less sleep time than women in the general Canadian population. Their PA practice is associated with better perceived sleep quality but does not improve their sleep quantity per se. Furthermore, the association between their functional capacity and PA practice suggests that it is a valid objective indirect measure of PA practice.

Presentation: 6/1/2024