Sleep Quality's Effect on Vigilance and Perceptual Ability in Adolescent and Adult Athletes

Vasileios T Stavrou; Kyriaki Astara; Konstantinos N Tourlakopoulos; Zoe Daniil; Konstantinos I Gourgoulianis; Konstantinos Kalabakas; Dimitrios Karagiannis; George Basdekis

doi:10.1155/2021/5585573

Sleep Quality's Effect on Vigilance and Perceptual Ability in Adolescent and Adult Athletes

J Sports Med (Hindawi Publ Corp). 2021 Apr 11:2021:5585573. doi: 10.1155/2021/5585573. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Vasileios T Stavrou^{1

2}, Kyriaki Astara¹, Konstantinos N Tourlakopoulos¹, Zoe Daniil¹, Konstantinos I Gourgoulianis¹, Konstantinos Kalabakas², Dimitrios Karagiannis², George Basdekis²

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Cardio-Pulmonary Testing and Pulmonary Rehabilitation, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.
² The Medical Project, Prevention, Evaluation and Recovery Center, Larissa, Greece.

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of sleep quality in cognitive domains of perceptual ability after exhausting exercise in adolescent and adult athletes. Eighty-six male professional soccer players were included in our study and divided into two groups: adolescents (age: 17.3 ± 0.2 yrs, body mass: 68.9 ± 7.9 kg, body fat: 9.9 ± 3.6 %) versus adults (age: 26.3 ± 5.2 yrs, body mass: 76.5 ± 7.2 kg, body fat: 10.3 ± 3.1 %). For each athlete, prior to cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), anthropometric and morphological characteristics were recorded and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire was answered. Immediately after CPET, all athletes underwent the perceptual ability test (PATest) for 30 sec and the sum of hits (rep/30 sec) and the time between a visual stimulus and the following stimulus (mean reaction time; RT, sec) were recorded. Oxygen uptake in maximal effort and in anaerobic threshold showed differences between hits (P=0.037) and RT (P=0.025). The variable of PSQI questionnaire "had bad dreams" showed correlation with hits (P=0.021) and RT (P=0.011) and the RT showed correlation with variables "cannot breathe comfortably" (P=0.041) and "...enthusiasm to get things done" (P=0.041). Adolescents showed poorer sleep quality (PSQI score: 5.7 ± 3.6 vs. 2.4 ± 2.6) compared to adults and slower reaction time (0.9 ± 0.1 vs. 0.8 ± 0.1 sec, P=0.029) compared to adolescent athletes with PSQI score ≥5.5. The variable of PSQI score in adolescents is related to HR in maximal effort (r = -0.364, P=0.032) and in adults is related to speed (r = -0.335, P=0.016). Perceptual ability, which requires sustained attention, vigilance, and motor coordination, is often negatively affected by restricted sleep, especially in adolescents.