Sleep Quality’s Effect on Vigilance and Perceptual Ability in Adolescent and Adult Athletes

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of sleep quality in cognitive domains of perceptual ability after exhausting exercise in adolescent and adult athletes. Eighty-six male professional soccer players were included in our study and divided into two groups: adolescents (age: 17.3 ± 0.2 yrs, body mass: 68.9 ± 7.9 kg, body fat: 9.9 ± 3.6 %) versus adults (age: 26.3 ± 5.2 yrs, body mass: 76.5 ± 7.2 kg, body fat: 10.3 ± 3.1 %). For each athlete, prior to cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), anthropometric and morphological characteristics were recorded and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire was answered. Immediately after CPET, all athletes underwent the perceptual ability test (PATest) for 30 sec and the sum of hits (rep/30 sec) and the time between a visual stimulus and the following stimulus (mean reaction time; RT, sec) were recorded. Oxygen uptake in maximal effort and in anaerobic threshold showed differences between hits ( <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"> <a:mi>P</a:mi> <a:mo>=</a:mo> <a:mn>0.037</a:mn> </a:math> ) and RT ( <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M2"> <c:mi>P</c:mi> <c:mo>=</c:mo> <c:mn>0.025</c:mn> </c:math> ). The variable of PSQI questionnaire “had bad dreams” showed correlation with hits ( <e:math xmlns:e="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M3"> <e:mi>P</e:mi> <e:mo>=</e:mo> <e:mn>0.021</e:mn> </e:math> ) and RT ( <g:math xmlns:g="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M4"> <g:mi>P</g:mi> <g:mo>=</g:mo> <g:mn>0.011</g:mn> </g:math> ) and the RT showed correlation with variables “cannot breathe comfortably” ( <i:math xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M5"> <i:mi>P</i:mi> <i:mo>=</i:mo> <i:mn>0.041</i:mn> </i:math> ) and “...enthusiasm to get things done” ( <k:math xmlns:k="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M6"> <k:mi>P</k:mi> <k:mo>=</k:mo> <k:mn>0.041</k:mn> </k:math> ). Adolescents showed poorer sleep quality (PSQI score: 5.7 ± 3.6 vs. 2.4 ± 2.6) compared to adults and slower reaction time (0.9 ± 0.1 vs. 0.8 ± 0.1 sec, <m:math xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M7"> <m:mi>P</m:mi> <m:mo>=</m:mo> <m:mn>0.029</m:mn> </m:math> ) compared to adolescent athletes with PSQI score ≥5.5. The variable of PSQI score in adolescents is related to HR in maximal effort (r = −0.364, <o:math xmlns:o="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M8"> <o:mi>P</o:mi> <o:mo>=</o:mo> <o:mn>0.032</o:mn> </o:math> ) and in adults is related to speed (r = −0.335, <q:math xmlns:q="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M9"> <q:mi>P</q:mi> <q:mo>=</q:mo> <q:mn>0.016</q:mn> </q:math> ). Perceptual ability, which requires sustained attention, vigilance, and motor coordination, is often negatively affected by restricted sleep, especially in adolescents.