Department of Psychology, University Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada.
Centre for Sleep and Human Performance, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
J Clin Sleep Med. 2021 Nov 1;17(11):2269-2274. doi: 10.5664/jcsm.9446.
Travel fatigue and circadian disruptions are known factors that can hinder performance in professional athletes. The present study focused on travel distance and direction on back-to-back games over the 2013-2020 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
The outcomes were based on winning percentage with additional covariates including the direction of travel (eastward or westward), the distance traveled (0-500 km; 501-1,000 km; 1,001-1,500 km; 1,501 km and more), team quality, and season. If a team played both games of a back-to-back sequence on the road, they were considered Away-Away; if a team played the first game of a back-to-back sequence at home they were considered Home-Away; if a team played the first game of a back-to-back sequence on the road they were considered Away-Home.
The sequence Away-Home significantly increases the likelihood of winning compared with the Away-Away and Home-Away sequences: 54.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 54.4%-54.5%), 39.2% (95% CI, 37.2%-41.2%), and 36.8% (95% CI, 36.7%-36.8%), respectively. When teams travel back home, every additional 500 km reduces the likelihood of winning by approximately 4% ( = .038). Finally, after withdrawing the Away-Home sequence, traveling eastward significantly increases the chance of winning ( = .024) compared with westward travel but has no significant impact on the probability of winning compared with neutral time zone travel ( = .091).
The accumulation of travel fatigue and the chronic circadian desynchronization that occurs over the NBA season can acutely disturb sleep and recovery. It appears that tailored sleep and recovery strategies need to be dynamically developed throughout the season to overcome the different challenges of the NBA schedule.
Charest J, Samuels CH, Bastien CH, Lawson D, Grandner MA. Impacts of travel distance and travel direction on back-to-back games in the National Basketball Association. . 2021;17(11):2269-2274.
旅行疲劳和昼夜节律紊乱是已知的会影响职业运动员表现的因素。本研究关注的是 2013-2020 赛季美国职业篮球联赛（NBA）中连续比赛的旅行距离和方向。
研究结果基于胜率，附加协变量包括旅行方向（东行或西行）、旅行距离（0-500 公里；501-1000 公里；1001-1500 公里；1501 公里及以上）、球队质量和赛季。如果一支球队连续两场比赛都在客场进行，则视为客场-客场；如果一支球队连续两场比赛的第一场在主场进行，则视为主场-客场；如果一支球队连续两场比赛的第一场在客场进行，则视为客场-主场。
与客场-客场和主场-客场序列相比，客场-主场序列显著增加了获胜的可能性：54.4%（95%置信区间[CI]，54.4%-54.5%）、39.2%（95% CI，37.2%-41.2%）和 36.8%（95% CI，36.7%-36.8%）。当球队返回主场时，每增加 500 公里，获胜的可能性就会降低约 4%（ =.038）。最后，在剔除客场-主场序列后，东行旅行显著增加了获胜的机会（ =.024），而西行旅行与中立时区旅行相比对获胜概率没有显著影响（ =.091）。
随着 NBA 赛季的进行，旅行疲劳的积累和慢性昼夜节律紊乱会严重扰乱睡眠和恢复。似乎需要在整个赛季中动态制定有针对性的睡眠和恢复策略，以克服 NBA 赛程的不同挑战。
Charest J、Samuels CH、Bastien CH、Lawson D、Grandner MA。旅行距离和旅行方向对美国职业篮球联赛背靠背比赛的影响。睡眠，2021；17（11）：2269-2274。
