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Relationship between sleep quality and gravitational Tolerance

  • Sleep Breathing Physiology and Disorders • Original Article
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Abstract

Background

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between sleep quality and gravitational tolerance because sleep could directly affect physiological variables of the human body.

Methods

For the present study, 157 male Korea Air Force Academy cadets were recruited. They were assigned into a gravity (G)-tolerance test pass group (GP, n = 87) and a G-tolerance test fail group (GF, n = 70). All participants were assessed for G-tolerance test and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), a self-report questionnaire. Physical fitness test was performed based on the physical fitness test of the Ministry of National Defense of Korea.

Results

Independent t-test showed that PSQI global score (p < 0.001), PSQI sleep quality (p < 0.001), PSQI sleep onset latency (p = 0.009), PSQI sleep disturbance (p < 0.001), and PSQI daytime dysfunction (p < 0.001) were significantly different between the two groups. Participants with PSQI score less than 5 were more likely to have a longer G-tolerance test time (OR = 4.705, 95% CI = 2.00–11.05). Additionally, associations between those with PSQI score less than 5 (OR = 4.567, 95% CI = 1.94–10.74) were after adjusting (< 30 s and ≥ 30 s) for covariates. A negative correlation was found between G-tolerance test time and PSQI global score (p < 0.001). Negative correlations were found among 3 km running, push-up (p < 0.001), and sit-up (p < 0.001). A positive correlation was found between push-up and sit-up (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

In conclusion, participants with good sleep quality were 4.705 times more likely to have longer G-tolerance test time. Thus, it is important for aircraft pilots to manage their sleep quality. Pre-pilots should also improve their sleep quality to pass the G-tolerance test.

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Data availability

The data of this study will be made available on reasonable request.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Smart Health Science and Technology, Graduate School, Kangwon National University, Gangwon-Do, Republic of Korea

    Deokhwa Jeong

  2. Department of Aero Fitness, Republic of Korea Air Force Academy, Chungcheongbuk-Do, Republic of Korea

    Deokhwa Jeong & Junyoung Sung

  3. Waseda Institute for Sport Sciences, Waseda University, Saitama, Japan

    Eunjae Lee

  4. Institute of Sports and Arts Convergence (ISAC), Inha University, Incheon, Republic of Korea

    Eunjae Lee

  5. Laboratory of Exercise Physiology, College of Art, Culture and Engineering, Kangwon National University, Gangwon-Do, Republic of Korea

    Sunghwun Kang

  6. Interdisciplinary Program in Biohealth-Machinery Convergence Engineering, Kangwon National University, Gangwon-Do, Republic of Korea

    Sunghwun Kang

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  1. Deokhwa Jeong
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  4. Sunghwun Kang
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Contributions

Deokhwa Jeong and Sunghwun Kang conceived and designed the research; Deokhwa Jeong and Junyoung Sung collected data and conducted the research; Eunjae Lee and Sunghwun Kang analyzed and interpreted the data; Deokhwa Jeong wrote the initial paper; Sunghwun Kang, Junyoung Sung, and Eunjae Lee revised the paper; Deokhwa Jeong and Sunghwun Kang had primary responsibility for final content. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sunghwun Kang.

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Ethical approval and consent to participate

This study was approved by the Institutional Bioethics Committee of the Air Force Aerospace Medical Center (ASMC-22-IRB-009). All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Republic of Korea Air Force Aerospace Medical Center Review Board for human subjects approved this study (ASMC-22-IRB-009) and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Jeong, D., Lee, E., Sung, J. et al. Relationship between sleep quality and gravitational Tolerance. Sleep Breath (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-023-02987-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-023-02987-x

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