Relationship among Sleep Patterns, Sleep Variations, and Perceived Fatigue Prior to Competition in Athletes

Abstract

Fatigue has frequently been seen in athletes, and has inevitable impact on athletic performance. Maintaining a good sleep pattern could reduce the fatigue, because earlier research suggested that sleep/wake schedules can influence the sleep patterns, which in turn influences perceived fatigue in athletes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among sleep patterns, sleep variations and perceived fatigue prior to competition in athletes. Forty-nine athletes (aged = 20.29 ± 1.4 years, training years = 6.9 ± 4.27, training hours = 3.83 ± 2.17 hrs/day), who participated in open groups of Intercollegiate Athletic Games in 2014, were recruited for this study. All participants completed an Owl and Lark Questionnaire (OLQ) and 7-day sleep logs one week before the competition. Afterwards the perceived fatigue questionnaire was filled-in at the end of the week. Results indicated that 51% of participants experienced sleep disturbance, but did not showed the significant association with variation of sleep/wake schedules. However, those who had higher variations in sleep/wake schedules and time in bed perceived higher fatigue even though the total sleep time was not significantly different from two comparison groups whose sleep/wake schedules has changed or unchanged. This study concludes that the associations among variations in sleep/wake schedules, time in bed, and perceived fatigue may not be because of the change in total sleep time, but it can be attributed to the change of sleep structure, failed to maintaining circadian rhythms, or the anxiety before competition. In order to have a better performance in competition, it is suggested that sport practitioners should monitor athletes’ sleep/wake schedules, emotions, sleep disturbance, and anxiety which can certainly cause fatigue before competition.