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.
Keywords: PSQI; posturography; sleep disorders; sleep quality.