The sleep as a predictor of musculoskeletal injuries in adolescent athletes

• Published in: Sleep science (São Paulo, SP ) Vol. 15; no. 3; pp. 305 - 311
• Main Authors: Viegas, Fernanda, Ocarino, Juliana Melo, Freitas, Luísa de Sousa, Pinto, Marina Costa, Facundo, Lucas Alves, Amaral, Adriana Souza, Silva, Samuel, Mello, Marco Túlio de, Silva, Andressa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brazilian Association of Sleep and Latin American Federation of Sleep 01-01-2022; Thieme Revinter Publicações Ltda
• Subjects: adolescent; athletes; athletic injuries; Original; sleep; sports
• ISSN: 1984-0659; 1984-0063
• DOI: 10.5935/1984-0063.20220055

Objectives Sleep is essential for musculoskeletal and cognitive recovery. Adolescent athletes tend to sleep poorly compared to adults and it may predispose them to sports injuries. Our aims are to estimate whether the quantity/quality of sleep are associated with sports injuries in adolescent athletes and to compare the quantity/quality of sleep between the training and competition seasons, and the school vacation period.
Material and Methods It was a cohort study with 19 track and field athletes of both sexes, aged between 12 and 21 years. We evaluated their sleep-wake habit through actigraphy during three phases: 1 - mid-season, 2 - competition, and 3 - school vacation. The previous six months injury history and the occurrence of injuries in a six-month follow-up were recorded. Logistic regression and variance analysis were performed. The significance level used was 0.05.
Results Wake after sleep onset (WASO) predicted previous injuries (OR=1.144) and time awake (TA) predicted injury occurrence (OR=0.974). TA decreased from phase 2 to phase 3 (p=0.004), total sleep time (TST) increased from phase 2 to phase 3 (p=0.012), and WASO decreased between phases 1 and 2 (p=0.001) and between phases 1 and 3 (p=0.025).
Conclusion Our study demonstrated that the quantity and quality of sleep were associated with musculoskeletal injuries in adolescent track and field athletes. Previous injuries were predicted by WASO and the occurrence of injuries was predicted by TA. Furthermore, during the vacation period they had lower TA and WASO, and higher TST than on school days.