Sleep Disturbances and Risk of Sports Injury Among Collegiate Student-Athletes.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between collegiate student-athletes' sleep and injury status. This study was a secondary analysis of observational survey data of student-athletes collected across 2 time periods, October 2020 and January 2021. Data were collected as part of an ongoing national (USA) longitudinal survey investigating student-athletes' well-being in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were made-up of a subsample of participants from the parent study. Data from 89 exact matched pairs (across 5 demographics) of injured and noninjured student-athletes (68.5% NCAA Division I, 82.0% women) were assessed. Student-athletes' sleep disturbance levels were the primary independent variable of interest. Analytic models also covaried for gender, racial, and ethnic identities, sport in-seasons, and previous injury status. Participant endorsed injury status was the main outcome measure of interest. Hypotheses were formulated during the data collection of the parent study. Student-athletes injured in January 2021 reported higher average sleep disturbances in both October 2020 and January 2021 than noninjured student-athletes but not student-athletes injured in October. In addition, October 2020 sleep disturbances were a significant predictor (P = 0.007) of injury, such that odds of student-athletes being injured increased 1.07 times for each unit increase in their sleep disturbances controlling for their identities, sport in-season, and previous injury status. Findings signal support for the screening and targeting of student-athletes' sleep problems to reduce potential occurrences of sports-related injuries in student-athletes.