Sleep quality and athletic performance according to chronotype

Abstract Background: When studying the quality of sleep in relation to athletic performance, the athlete's chronotype and habitual time consider important factors. We aim to investigate the sleep quality and athletes’ performance according to chronotype in elite athletes. Methods: Three hundred forty elite athletes (males = 261, females = 79) were recruited for the present study. All participants were screening for chronotype by the Korean versions of the Morningness - Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ-K). The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT) were measurement after screening. Results: PSQI global score, PSQI sleep quality, PSQI sleep onset latency, PSQI sleep disturbance, and PSQI daytime dysfunction were significant differences among the groups. WAnT mean power (W), mean power (W/kg), peak power (W), and peak power (W/kg) were significant differences among the groups. A negative correlation coefficient was found between PSQI score and WAnT mean power (W) ( r = -0.256, p <0.01), mean power (W/kg) ( r = -0.270, p <0.01), peak power (W) ( r = -0.220, p <0.01), and peak power (W/kg) ( r = -0.248, p <0.01). Conclusions: This study indicates that related poor sleep quality and late-type chronotype may reduce the athletes’ performance in elite athletes. In addition, the sleep quality is much higher in the early-type chronotype than in the late-type chronotype. Moreover, it also the athletic performance was better in the early-type chronotype than in the late-type chronotype.