0791 SLEEP HEALTH OF DIVISION 1 COLLEGIATE VARSITY ATHLETES AND IMPACT OF TRAVEL FOR COMPETITION

• Published in: Sleep (New York, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2017-04, Vol.40 (suppl_1), p.A293-A293
• Main Authors: Higdon, JC, Guerin, MK, Holliday, M, Goodrich, JA, Sares, SM, Rueda, MA, Poddar, S, Byrnes, WC, Hernandez, T, McQueen, M, Wright, KP
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Athletes; Injury prevention; Sleep; Travel; Volleyball
• ISSN: 0161-8105; 1550-9109
• DOI: 10.1093/sleepj/zsx050.790

Abstract Introduction: Sleep is increasingly recognized to be important for optimal athletic performance and for injury prevention and recovery. Little is known about the sleep health of collegiate athletes and we therefore conducted two sleep surveys as well as objective sleep assessments during home and away games. Methods: Sixty-seven (sample 1) and eighty-two (sample 2) moderate altitude adapted collegiate athletes from a cross-section of varsity sports (men’s and women’s basketball, cross country, lacrosse, football, men’s and women’s golf, skiing, soccer, tennis, track and field, and volleyball) completed the sleep survey. Objective sleep of fifteen women’s volleyball players was also monitored (Actiwatch Spectrum, Philips) for one week during a home game series at 1655m with matches scheduled at 8PM Friday and 12PM Sunday local time, and one week during an away game at 29m that required westward travel across one time zone and an 8PM Friday local time match. Results: Athletes in both survey samples reported significant sleep problems and daytime symptoms: 56–59% reported poor sleep quality (PSQI>5); 25–42% reported excessive daytime sleepiness (ESS≥ 10); 54–61% reported obtaining the sleep they needed to feel at their best less than half the time or never; 54–65% reported sleep problems while traveling. Objective sleep assessments during the travel week showed sleep of the women’s volleyball team was longest on the day of the away competition (8.9 ± 0.2h), intermediate at home on days prior to travel (7.3 ± 0.2h), and shortest on the travel day home (5.7 ± 0.4h) (all day comparisons p