Sleep Characteristics of Elite Youth Athletes: A Clustering Approach to Optimize Sleep Support Strategies

Abstract

Purpose: Elite athletes experience chronic sleep insufficiency due to training and competition schedules. However, there is little research on sleep and caffeine use of elite youth athletes and a need for a more nuanced understanding of their sleep difficulties. This study aimed to (1) examine the differences in sleep characteristics of elite youth athletes by individual and team sports, (2) study the associations between behavioral risk factors associated with obstructive sleep apnea and caffeine use with sleep quality, and (3) characterize the latent sleep profiles of elite youth athletes to optimize the sleep support strategy. Methods: A group (N = 135) of elite national youth athletes completed a self-administered questionnaire consisting of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and questions pertaining to obstructive sleep apnea, napping behavior, and caffeine use. K-means clustering was used to characterize unique sleep characteristic subgroups based on PSQI components. Results: Athletes reported 7.0 (SD = 1.2) hours of sleep. Out of the total group, 45.2% of the athletes had poor quality sleep (PSQI global >5), with team-sport athletes reporting significantly poorer sleep quality than individual-sport athletes. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that sport type significantly correlated with poor sleep quality. The K-means clustering algorithm classified athletes’ underlying sleep characteristics into 4 clusters to efficiently identify athletes with similar underlying sleep issues to enhance interventional strategies.Conclusion: These findings suggest that elite youth team-sport athletes are more susceptible to poorer sleep quality than individual-sport athletes. Clustering methods can help practitioners characterize sleep-related problems and develop efficient athlete support strategies.

Investigating the sleep habits in individual and team-sport athletes using the Athlete Sleep Behavior Questionnaire and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index

“…Many of these sports traditionally include early-morning training and high training volumes and durations, whereas many of the individual sports in the current study might not necessarily be associated with early or late-night training (e.g., badminton, golf, and tennis). Conversely, our results are in agreement with the findings of Suppiah et al (2021) 21 , who observed better sleep characteristics in elite individual-sport youth athletes compared to those in team-sports. Indeed, the individual sport cohort in the Suppiah et al 21 study also included many non-endurance based individual athletes.…”

“…Conversely, our results are in agreement with the findings of Suppiah et al (2021) 21 , who observed better sleep characteristics in elite individual-sport youth athletes compared to those in team-sports. Indeed, the individual sport cohort in the Suppiah et al 21 study also included many non-endurance based individual athletes. The inconsistencies in athlete sleep characteristics by sport type between studies highlights that contextual between-sport differences may exist.…”

“…This difference was explained by the lower pressure and anxiety experienced in team sports as these athletes, unlike individual-sport athletes, are not solely responsible and accountable for their own results. In a study by Suppiah et al (2021) 21 evaluating sleep in 135 elite youth athletes, team-sport athletes obtained significantly worse Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) global scores, sleep efficiency, and subjective sleep quality and had shorter sleep durations and later bedtimes than individual-sport athletes.…”

“…General sleep behaviours may be compromised in elite athletes due to a number of factors, including the increase in core temperature following exercise, increases in muscle tension, fatigue, and pain following training and competition, frequent international travel, disruption from light and noise, and increases in psychological stress 17 . Recent studies indicate that the amount of sleep an athlete obtains, as well as the sleep scheduling, might be dependent on the sport they participate in [18][19][20][21] . Supporting this, Lastella et al (2015) 18 suggested that athletes from individual-sports went to bed earlier and woke up earlier than athletes from team sports.…”

The influence of self-reported total sleep time and sleep quality on physical performance in junior tennis players

“…Junior (<18 years of age) athletes often receive less sleep than these recommendations (Riederer, 2020). Sleep quality has also been shown to be impaired in junior athletes (Suppiah et al, 2021). Sleep duration and sleep quality may be impaired by lifestyle factors, including school commencement times, homework, and potential social media and gaming (Hansen et al, 2017;Wahlstrom et al, 2017).…”