1. Centre for Sleep Science
Evening use of electronic devices: effects on sleep, cognition and performance of elite athletes Ian C Dunican,1 David T Martin2, Shona Halson2, Brian Dawson3 ,Maddison Jones3 , John Caldwell 3 Reid Reale2 , Israel Halperin2 Clare Humberstone 2 ,Hamilton Lee2 ,Emily Dunn2 , Peter R Eastwood 1 1Centre for Sleep Science, School of Anatomy and Human Biology, The University of Western Australia 2 Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra, ACT, Australia 3 School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health, The University of Western Australia
Introduction
Adequate sleep is crucial for psychological functioning and daily performance of elite athletes.
Elite athletes use electronic devices to stay connected with family and friends and to promote competitive events.
Excessive late night use of electronic devices can decrease sleep duration and potentially decrease athletic performance
Aim
To determine the effect of evening use of electronic devices on overnight sleep and next-day athletic and cognitive performance in elite Judo athletes (Judokas).
Methods
Participants
18 elite Australian Judokas attending an international Judo camp at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).
Protocol
Athletes wore an actigraph (Readiband) continuously for 6 days to provide measures of sleep.
A control group (n=9) were permitted to use their devices as normal
A device restricted group (n=9) had all electronic devices removed for 2 days (days 3 and 4).
A computerized Cogstate test was used to collect cognitive performance data.
A single leg - triple hop test was used to assess physical performance (see figure 1)
Results
Figure 2:Sleep and Performance measures
When considering night 2 data as ‘baseline’ for both groups, compared to the control group.Results indicated that the device restricted group was associated with:
Increase in sleep duration(min) on night 3 (17±78) & night 4 (4±70)
A reduction in time of sleep onset by 39±8 minutes on night 3 (p=0.06) and 37±5 minutes on night 4 (p=0.002)
The change in wake time in both groups is as a result of an extended sleep opportunity provided by the coaches on night 6.
Conclusion
Removing electronic devices from elite athletes :
Tended to increased sleep duration and decreased sleep onset on night 4.
However these changes did not affect next-day athletic performance or cognitive function.
Speculation:
Extending the sleep opportunity in the morning may be necessary for increasing sleep duration and subsequent performance oin elite athletes.
Acknowledgements
Fatigue Science, Vancouver for the supply of Readiband & Cogstate Research, Melbourne,
Judo Australia and the AIS.
Figure 1: Judoka completing the single leg - triple hop