Higher body awareness was found to be associated with better sleep quality, and significant positive correlations were found between SF36 energy level and sleep parameters among permanent university workers, suggesting that improving body awareness and sleep quality can positively impact quality of life and work productivity.
Key Findings
Results
Higher body awareness was significantly associated with better sleep quality among permanent university workers.
The association between body awareness and sleep quality was statistically significant (p = 0.049)
The study suggests that as body awareness increases, sleep quality and overall energy levels during the day also increase
Data were collected using the Body Awareness Questionnaire and Richard's Campbell Sleep Scale
Sample consisted of 114 permanent workers aged 18-60 years (mean age 40.90 ± 8.76 years)
Results
SF36 energy level scores showed significant positive correlations with multiple sleep parameters including sleep-wake cycle, sleep depth, and overall sleep quality.
Significant positive correlation found between SF36 energy level and sleep-wake cycle (p = 0.043)
Significant positive correlation found between SF36 energy level and sleep depth (p = 0.002)
Significant positive correlation found between SF36 energy level and overall sleep quality (p < 0.001)
Quality of life was measured using the SF36 Quality of Life Scale
Sleep was measured using Richard's Campbell Sleep Scale
Methods
The study sample consisted predominantly of male permanent workers at a Turkish applied sciences university.
Total sample size was 114 permanent workers
20.2% of participants were female and 79.8% were male
Participants ranged in age from 18 to 60 years with a mean age of 40.90 ± 8.76 years
Study was conducted at Sakarya University of Applied Sciences
Data were collected using a sociodemographic information questionnaire, VAS for pain, Richards Campbell Sleep Scale, Body Awareness Questionnaire, and SF36 Quality of Life Scale
Background
Permanent university workers face occupational postural disorders and pain due to prolonged standing and heavy lifting, which affect daily performance, productivity, and quality of life.
Occupational conditions cited include prolonged standing and heavy lifting leading to postural disorders
These problems were described as significantly affecting daily performance, productivity, and overall quality of life
Pain was measured using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS)
The study design was a descriptive cross-sectional study
Conclusions
Interventions focusing on posture correction and sleep improvement were suggested to lead to better occupational health outcomes for university workers.
Authors concluded that improving body awareness and sleep quality can positively impact quality of life and work productivity
Specific recommendation was made for interventions targeting posture correction and sleep improvement
The study framed these findings in the context of occupational health outcomes
The cross-sectional design limits causal inference about these relationships
What This Means
This research studied 114 permanent workers (such as maintenance, cleaning, or support staff) at a Turkish university to understand how body awareness, sleep quality, and quality of life are connected. The workers, mostly male with an average age of about 41 years, were surveyed using standardized questionnaires measuring pain, sleep quality, how well they perceive their body's physical state, and overall quality of life. The researchers found that workers who had greater body awareness — meaning a better ability to notice and respond to physical sensations in their bodies — also tended to sleep better and report higher daytime energy levels.
The study also found that energy levels (as measured by the SF36 quality of life questionnaire) were meaningfully linked to several aspects of sleep, including how deep participants slept, how well they followed a regular sleep-wake cycle, and their overall sleep quality. These statistically significant correlations suggest that sleep and energy are closely intertwined in this working population, which makes intuitive sense but had not been specifically examined in this occupational group before.
This research suggests that workplace health programs targeting university support staff could benefit from including components that improve body awareness — such as posture training or mindfulness-based physical practices — alongside strategies to improve sleep hygiene. Because these workers often perform physically demanding tasks like heavy lifting or prolonged standing, addressing both posture and sleep may help reduce pain and fatigue, potentially improving their productivity and overall wellbeing. However, because this was a cross-sectional study (a snapshot in time), it cannot prove that improving body awareness directly causes better sleep or quality of life — only that these factors are related.
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Yildiz A, Kaplan S, Dincer C, Apaydin S. (2026). A descriptive cross-sectional study on data collected from permanent workers at Sakarya University of Applied Sciences.. Journal of bodywork and movement therapies. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbmt.2025.12.010