Professional Athletes Have Poorer Sleep Quality and Sleep Hygiene Compared With an Age-Matched Cohort

Abstract

Objective: To study sleep quality and sleep hygiene in professional athletes and an age-matched cohort. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Professional athletes and a sport medicine center. Participants: Professional rugby, netball and football athletes (n = 184) and attendees to a sport medicine center (n = 101). Interventions: Participants completed an online survey. Main Outcome Measures: Sleep Hygiene Index (SHI) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Results: Forty-five percent (n = 128) of respondents were aged between 18 and 24 years, 54% (n = 154) were men and 65% (n = 184) were professional athletes. The sleep duration of the professional athletes (mean rank 134.3, n = 181) was greater than the age-matched cohort (mean rank = 154.4, n = 101), U = 7835.0, z = −2.3, P = 0.02; however, they reported more sleep disturbance (mean ranking = 148.0, n = 181) than the age-matched cohort (mean rank = 129.8, n = 101), U = 7960.5 z = −2.5, P = 0.01, 2–tailed. Professional athletes had worse sleep regularity (mean rank = 152.3, n = 183) compared with the age-matched cohort (mean rank = 124.6, n = 101), U = 7448.5, z = −2.7, P = 0.006, 2-tailed, had an inferior sleep environment (mean rank = 149.5, n = 183) compared with the age-matched cohort (mean rank = 129.8, n = 101), U = 7959.5, z = −2.0, P = 0.047, and had more naps (mean rank = 156.2, n = 183) compared with the age-matched cohort (mean rank = 117.6, n = 101), U = 6729.0, z = −4.2, P = 0.00 0, 2-tailed. Conclusions: Professional athletes reported poorer sleep quality and sleep hygiene compared with an age-matched cohort, and difficulty falling asleep following competition. It is likely this is due to the stress of competition, training, and traveling. Because sleep plays an important role in postexercise recovery and has an impact on injury and athletic performance, it is important to have strategies to support better sleep quality and sleep hygiene in athletes.

Is daytime napping an effective strategy to improve sport-related cognitive and physical performance and reduce fatigue? A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

“…It is also necessary to highlight that professional athletes report poorer sleep quality and hygiene than an age-matched cohort of non-athletes. 54 Thus, the presence of chronic sleep-related problems may represent a barrier to the potential beneficial effects of napping on physical performance.…”

Comparison of sleep between youth elite amateur athletes and professional athletes

“…Sleep disorders have become increasingly prevalent, it has been estimated that at least one in every five adults suffers from chronic sleep problems [2,3]. Sleep disturbances have not only become frequent in the general population, but recent studies indicate that elite athletes are faced by multiple sleep problems [1,[4][5][6][7][8]. They are known to get less sleep than non-athletes, and furthermore they have longer sleep latency and lower sleep efficiency for example because of recurrent awakenings at nighttime.…”

“…Furthermore, little is known about sleep and possible challenges in sleeping at different stages of athletic career [12,15,16]. Several studies have demonstrated that professional athletes are facing increased risk of poor sleep and even sleep disorders are not uncommon among them [1,[4][5][6][7][8]. On the other hand, previous studies have also demonstrated that systematic sleep counselling can enhance the quality of athletes' sleep [1,10,17].…”

Sleep and Performance in Professional Athletes

“…Moreover, Halson and colleagues (2022) demonstrated the impact of individual sleep behaviors on insomnia-related characteristics in a sample of professional athletes across four sports (netball, Australian rules football, rugby league, and soccer), whereby persons with irregular sleep schedules had significantly lower SE, relative to those with regular sleep schedules [ 64 •]. This may be a particularly focal contributing factor to insomnia-related characteristics in professional athletes, as Cameron and colleagues (2021) evidenced worse sleep behaviors (schedule irregularity and maladaptive sleeping environments) in professional athletes, relative to and age-matched non-athlete cohort, which also coincided with significantly more general sleep disturbances [ 60 ].…”

“…We identified eight pieces of literature that pertain to the influence of competition factors on sleep health in professional athletes [55,60,62,[74][75][76][77][78][79]. In a sample of professional athletes across rugby, netball, and soccer, Cameron and colleagues (2021) evidenced the perception of significant, negative effects of competition on sleep [60]. 68.5% of the sample reported having difficulties sleeping after a competition.…”