Assessment of sleep quantity and sleep disturbances during recovery from sports-related concussion in youth athletes

Publication date: Available online 7 February 2018
Source:Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Author(s): Donna L. Murdaugh, Kim E. Ono, Andrew Reisner, Thomas G. Burns
ObjectiveTo determine the relationship between sleep quantity and sleep disturbances on symptoms and neurocognitive ability at the acute phase (<7 days) and post-sports-related concussion (SRC; >21 days).DesignProspective inception cohort studySettingGeneral community setting of regional middle and high schools.ParticipantsSample included 528 youth athletes with SRC and 443 controls ages 10-18.Main Outcome MeasuresAthletes completed the Immediate Post-Concussive Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) battery. Partial correlation analyses and independent t-tests were conducted to assess sleep quantity the night before testing. Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to assess sleep disturbances and its interaction with age.ResultsLess sleep quantity was correlated with greater report of cognitive (p = 0.001) and neuropsychological (p = 0.024) symptoms specific for prolonged recovery from SRC. Sleep disturbances significantly impacting each migraine, cognitive, and neuropsychological symptoms (p < 0.001). A significant interaction was found between sleep disturbances and age (p = 0.04) at >21 days post-SRC.ConclusionsFindings emphasize that continued presence of low sleep quantity and sleep disturbances in youth athletes with SRC should be a specific indicator to health professionals that these athletes are at an increased risk for protracted recovery. Further research should identify additional factors that may interact with sleep to increase risk of protracted recovery.



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