Lack of Sleep in Athletes Linked to Sport Injuries

Adolescent athletes sleeping eight or more hours each night were 68 percent less likely to be injured when compared to the athletes sleeping less time. This emerged in a study presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans.

The study was conducted on the middle and high school athletes between the grades 7 and 12 at the Harvard-Westlake School in Studio City, Calif. The participants were asked to answer certain questions about the number of sports they played and how much of time they devoted to athletics.

The participants were also asked whether they participated in strength training, how much sleep they got on average each night, and how much they subjectively enjoyed their athletic participation.

The researchers noticed that seventy percent of the student athletes completed the survey.

This survey was held in collaboration with Children's Hospital Los Angeles. The researchers basically focused on the students' school records pertaining to reported athletic injuries.

The study highlights the fact that, hours of sleep per night was linked to less injury. Plus higher the grade level of the athlete, the chances for injury was 2.3 times greater.

"While other studies have shown that lack of sleep can affect cognitive skills and fine motor skills, nobody has really looked at this subject in terms of the adolescent athletic population," said study author Matthew Milewski, MD.

 "When we started this study, we thought the amount of sports played, year-round play, and increased specialization in sports would be much more important for injury risk," said Dr. Milewski. Instead, "what we found is that the two most important facts were hours of sleep and grade in school."

 According to Milewski, the advanced age risk may reflect a cumulative risk of injury after playing three or four years at the high school level. The older athletes are bigger, faster and stronger.