Exercise intervention and the sleep quality in relation with the procedural learning in psychosis

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Sleep quality in psychosis has been reported to have abnormalities in terms of sleep efficiency, initiation, and maintenance. Some have even argued that such sleep abnormalities may have caused a few cognitive symptoms in psychosis. In recent years, physical exercise has been reported to have significant effects in reducing cognitive symptoms in patients with psychosis. However, there is no up-to-date study that has investigated the interaction effect derived from physical exercise and sleep on the cognitive ability of patients with psychosis. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to promote a 12-week physical exercise intervention to the psychotic population, and investigate whether the intervention can improve the sleeping quality as well as a specific few cognitive functions. METHODS: A randomised control trial has been carried out for this study. Patients with psychosis were recruited and randomly assigned to either a 12-week physical exercise intervention or a 12-week Carrom control intervention. Sleep quality, cognitive function, and clinical scale were assessed before and after the 12-week intervention. RESULTS: Statistical tests have been conducted to compare the preliminary baseline differences between patients and healthy control, and a trend of longer sleep latency (t(85) = 2.15, p < 0.05) and poorer sleep efficiency (t(85) = 2.20, p < 0.05) have been shown in the patient’s sample. CONCLUSION: The results may have suggested that the patients have a poor sleep quality that requires a longer sleep latency to compensate the deficits. This study may become an evidence that supports the beneficial effect of exercise towards sleep quality and certain types of cognitive function in psychosis.