The Effect of 12 Weeks of Aerobic Exercises on the Level of Sleep Quality and Quality of Life Indicators of Students

The experience of independent living, changing lifestyle, quick consequences and dormitory life are among the challenges of students, which can have negative effects on the level of sleep and quality of life of students. This research was conducted with the aim of evaluating the effectiveness of 12 weeks of aerobic exercises on the level of sleep quality and quality of life indicators of students.

Methods and Materials: 

The research method is semi-experimental. The statistical population of the research was made up of female students of Islamic Azad University, Lahijan Branch, who were selected purposefully and based on the entry and exit criteria of 27 people. The PSQI questionnaire was used to measure sleep quality and the SF-36 questionnaire was used to measure the subjects' quality of life. The special exercise protocol of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) was used for 12 weeks and 3 sessions per week. Dependent and independent t-tests were used for data analysis and for statistical calculations using SPSS version 25 software.

The results showed that the exercise protocol had a significant effect on the quality of sleep and quality of life and their components (P<0.05).

It seems that the desired exercise protocol can be used as a suitable strategy and approach to improve the quality of sleep and quality of life in students, however, considering that the number of subjects. More research should be done in order to increase the external credibility of research.