Physical therapy exercises for sleep disorders in a rehabilitation setting for neurological patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Sleep occupies one-third of human life and is essential for health and for emotional, physical, and cognitive well-being. Poor or insufficient sleep is associated with a wide range of dysfunctions that involve different body systems, such as the endocrine, metabolic, and immune systems, thus compromising the higher cortical functions, cognitive performance, mood, and post-physical activity recovery. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to explore the effectiveness of physical therapy exercises on sleep disorders in patients with neurological disorders. Our systematic review identified 10 articles that investigated the effects of physical therapy on sleep disorders in patients with neurological disorders, 6 of which were included in the meta-analysis. Results suggest that physical therapy exercises are a safe and useful strategy for managing sleep disorders in neurorehabilitation.