Exploring varsity athletes’ sleep characteristics: perspectives and implications of sleep on training, recovery, and athletic performance

Introduction High-quality sleep is necessary for sports performance, physical and mental recovery from training, and preventing in-game fatigue. Varsity athletes may face additional challenges. Research Questions 1) What are the sleep characteristics of varsity athletes? 2) What are their experiences, views, expectations, and beliefs regarding the importance of sleep? 3) What can be hypothesized from the results of their sleep characteristics and perspectives? Methods We conducted a systematic review. MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and SPORTDiscus were systematically searched for primary studies published in English from inception to March 18, 2024. We included quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies. Results We screened the titles and abstracts of 1555 articles, of which 31 studies were included in this review. Conclusion Findings suggest that sleep quality may be lacking in collegiate athletes and that sleep duration may need improvement. This knowledge helps to identify future targets to improve the athlete's well-being, academics, and performance.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Health Sciences (MHSc)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Community, Public and Population Health

Grantor

University of Ontario Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Belchos, Melissa N.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Papaconstantinou, Efrosini

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10155/1818

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ontariotechu.scholaris.ca:10155/1818