Background

The aims of this retrospective study were to (i) provide a description of sleep quality in elite athletes as measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), (ii) provide normative PSQI data, (iii) identify differences across sex and sport, (iv) identify components that contribute to high PSQI scores and (v) assess PSQI test–retest reliability.

Methods

The PSQI was completed by 479 athletes (371 female and 108 male) across 20 Olympic team and individual sports. For ordinal and categorical variables, the Wilcoxon rank sum test and Chi Squared tests were used, respectively. A random forest regression was built to determine the importance of each PSQI component. Test–retest reliability was assessed using two-way mixed effects intraclass correlation coefficients.

Results

Fifty-two percent of athletes had a global PSQI score ≥ 5. Team sport athletes reported significantly longer sleep onset latency times but longer sleep durations compared with individual sport athletes. Sleep onset latency and sleep quality made the greatest contribution to the global PSQI scores. The PSQI demonstrated variability over periods of 2 months or more, with a minimal detectable change of 3 arbitrary units (AU).

Conclusion

Long sleep onset latency and poor perceived sleep quality made the greatest contribution to the high PSQI scores observed in approximately half of elite athletes investigated. The PSQI should be administered at regular intervals due to variability within individuals over periods of 2 months or more. Individual questionnaire items or component scores of the PSQI may be useful for practitioners in guiding decision-making regarding sleep interventions in athletes.

中文翻译：

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精英运动员的睡眠质量：规范价值观、可靠性和理解睡眠不佳的原因

背景

这项回顾性研究的目的是 (i) 描述由匹兹堡睡眠质量指数 (PSQI) 衡量的精英运动员的睡眠质量，(ii) 提供规范的 PSQI 数据，(iii) 确定性别和运动之间的差异， (iv) 确定导致 PSQI 高分的因素，以及 (v) 评估 PSQI 重测信度。

方法

PSQI 由 20 个奥林匹克团体和个人项目的 479 名运动员（371 名女性和 108 名男性）完成。对于序数和分类变量，分别使用 Wilcoxon 秩和检验和卡方检验。建立随机森林回归以确定每个 PSQI 组件的重要性。使用双向混合效应组内相关系数评估重测信度。

结果

52% 的运动员的全球 PSQI 评分 ≥ 5。与个别运动运动员相比，团队运动运动员报告的入睡潜伏期显着延长，但睡眠持续时间更长。入睡潜伏期和睡眠质量对全球 PSQI 评分的贡献最大。PSQI 在 2 个月或更长时间内表现出可变性，可检测到的最小变化为 3 个任意单位 (AU)。

结论

入睡潜伏期长和感知睡眠质量差对大约一半的精英运动员所观察到的高 PSQI 得分贡献最大。由于个体在 2 个月或更长时间内的变异性，应定期执行 PSQI。PSQI 的个别问卷项目或组成分数可能有助于从业者指导有关运动员睡眠干预的决策。