Subjective and objective sleep differ in male and female collegiate athletes.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-5-2020
Department
Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology
Abstract
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Despite the importance of sleep for athletic performance, there is a lack of normative sleep data and sex comparisons in collegiate athletes. The primary purpose of our study was to assess the prevalence of insufficient sleep in collegiate athletes, with a secondary aim to compare male and female athletes.
PROCEDURES: Participants included 121 collegiate athletes (65 men and 56 women) from six team sports and three individual sports. Subjective assessments of sleep included at-home sleep diary, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Objective assessments of sleep included three consecutive off-season weekdays of wrist actigraphy to assess total sleep time (TST) and sleep efficiency (SE).
MAIN FINDINGS: Actigraphy revealed that 94% of student-athletes received/night, while 61% received/night. Subjective assessments revealed that 35% had PSQI >5, 28% had ISI scores >7, and 19% had ESS scores >10. Objective TST was not different between sexes (6.7±0.1 vs. 6.7±0.1 hours, p=0.99), but females demonstrated higher SE (87±1 vs. 82±1%, p
CONCLUSIONS: The majority of male and female collegiate athletes received less than age-recommended levels of sleep, and 44% subjectively reported poor sleep quality, mild severity insomnia, and/or excessive daytime sleepiness. Sex differences were observed in male and female collegiate athletes.
Publication Title
Sleep Health
Recommended Citation
Carter, J. R.,
Gervais, B.,
Adomeit, J.,
&
Greenlund, I.
(2020).
Subjective and objective sleep differ in male and female collegiate athletes..
Sleep Health.
http://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2020.01.016
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/michigantech-p/1756