Sleep quality and sports performance in physically impaired athletes of individual sports

Abstract

Aim: To investigate the relationship between sleep quality and sports performance of individuals with physical impairments in individual sports.Methods: Three hundred and thirty-eight athletes (age: 36.43 ± 10.81 yrs.; 145 women and 193 men) participated in the study. Volunteers completed a five-part questionnaire on sleep quality. Based on the information available in the Provincial boards and the Veterans and Disabled Federation, the positions obtained by each athlete were considered as a criterion measure of sports performance.Results: Result showed that in women the positions obtained at the Provincial, National and International level was significantly higher compared with male athletes (p < 0.05). There was no significant relationship between sleep quality and athletic performance of women, men and total (both men and women) athletes in individual sports at the Provincial level (women: r = 0.070, p = 0.409; men: r = -0.844, p = 0.242 and men and women: r = -0.029, p = 0.600); National level (women: r = 0.093, p = 0.271; men: r = 0.020, p = 0.785, men and women: r = 0.039, p = 0.474) and International level (women: r = 0.024, p = 0.781; men: r = 0.094, p = 0.191, men and women: r -0.078, p = 0.151).Conclusion: There was no significant difference in sleep quality between male and female athletes with physical impairments. No significant relationship was observed between athletic performance and sleep quality between the two groups. In future research, field studies can be used to evaluate this relationship.

Keywords

• sleep quality
• disabled athletes
• sports performance