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Sleep Deprived or Concussed? The Acute Impact of Self-Reported Insufficient Sleep in College Athletes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2020

Kaitlin E. Riegler Open the ORCID record for Kaitlin E. Riegler [Opens in a new window] ,
Erin T. Guty Open the ORCID record for Erin T. Guty [Opens in a new window] ,
Garrett A. Thomas  and
Peter A. Arnett
Kaitlin E. Riegler*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA16802, USA
Erin T. Guty
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA16802, USA
Garrett A. Thomas
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA16802, USA
Peter A. Arnett
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA16802, USA
*
*Correspondence and reprint requests to: Kaitlin Riegler, 372 Moore Building, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA16802, USA. E-mail: kriegler25@gmail.com
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Abstract

Objective:

Sleep deprivation is common among both college students and athletes and has been correlated with negative health outcomes, including worse cognition. As such, the current study sought to examine the relationship between sleep difficulties and self-reported symptoms and objective neuropsychological performance at baseline and post-concussion in collegiate athletes.

Method:

Seven hundred seventy-two collegiate athletes completed a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery at baseline and/or post-concussion. Athletes were separated into two groups based on the amount of sleep the night prior to testing. The sleep duration cutoffs for these group were empirically determined by sample mean and standard deviation (M = 7.07, SD = 1.29).

Results:

Compared with athletes getting sufficient sleep, those getting insufficient sleep the night prior to baseline reported significantly more overall symptoms and more symptoms from each of the five symptom clusters of the Post-Concussion Symptom Scale. However, there were no significant differences on objective performance indices. Secondly, there were no significant differences on any of the outcome measures, except for sleep symptoms and headache, between athletes getting insufficient sleep at baseline and those getting sufficient sleep post-concussion.

Conclusion:

Overall, the effect of insufficient sleep at baseline can make an athlete appear similar to a concussed athlete with sufficient sleep. As such, athletes completing a baseline assessment following insufficient sleep could be underperforming cognitively and reporting elevated symptoms that would skew post-concussion comparisons. Therefore, there may need to be consideration of prior night’s sleep when determining whether a baseline can be used as a valid comparison.

Keywords

Cognition functionPost-concussion symptomsConcussionMildSports injuriesSelf reportSports
Type
Regular Research
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 27 , Issue 1 , January 2021 , pp. 35 - 46
Copyright
Copyright © INS. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2020

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