Investigations Concerning the Influence of Sleep Disorders on Postural Stability in Young Men

Abstract

Lack of sleep is a factor that disrupts the receptors’ reception of information from the environment and contributes to the emergence of problems with maintaining balance. The main aim of the study was to determine whether sleep disorders affect postural stability in young men. The study participants were 76 male students who were divided into groups with good and poor sleep quality. The division was made based on the results obtained from the questionnaire of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). In each group, postural stability had been tested using three main tests: Sensory Organization Test (SOT); Motor Control Test (MCT); and Adaptation Test (ADT). The results of the analysis show that the obtained results differ in the examined groups under the SOT test. Different values of the tested parameters were noted among people with poor sleep quality and compared with the values of those who sleep well, which translates into a difference in the ability to maintain balance. The greatest impact is observed when using visual and a vestibular system to maintain a stable posture. It was confirmed that the lack of sleep significantly disturbs postural stability.

The correlation between self-reported sleep quality, anxiety levels, and balance confidence among university students

“…Consequently, any disturbance to one system also affects another. Sleep problems in young adults may lead to the inefficient use of cues from the vestibular system (Batuk et al, 2020; Tetych et al, 2022) and, accordingly, increase the risk of falls and impair the perception of spatial movement (Andrade Junior et al, 2021; Quarck et al, 2006). However, psychological factors, emotional state, and sleep can also play a significant role in balance confidence, even if a person has adequate physical balance (Fábrega-Cuadros et al, 2020).…”