National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine (NCSEM), School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK.
The Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sports, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK.
J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2021 Aug;61(8):1159-1172. doi: 10.23736/S0022-4707.21.12741-0. Epub 2021 Jun 29.
The role of sleep is now recognized as an important component for success in athletic performance, and sleep is proposed to be one of the most effective recovery strategies available. Insufficient sleep is commonly reported among athletes while several factors have been put forward to explain why elite athletes might experience poor sleep. However, Paralympic athletes may be predisposed to a greater risk of poor sleep due to the associated complexities of some impairment types. In fact, clinical research has previously shown that individuals with disabilities have a higher prevalence of sleep disturbances when compared to their able-bodied counterparts. However, research and evidence-based practices regarding the sleep of elite Paralympic athletes are limited. Firstly, this narrative review aims to identify challenges associated with the Paralympic games to obtain optimal sleep. Secondly, identify the specific risk factors to sleep associated with particular impairment groups within the Paralympic population, and lastly to propose potential sleep-enhancing strategies that might be of relevance for Paralympic athletes. From this review, initial observations have identified that Paralympic athletes may have a heightened risk of sleep-related problems, and importantly highlighted the current lack of understanding within this population group. Furthermore, this review identified where further research is warranted to better understand how specific impairments impact sleep and, consequently, athletic performance. Additionally, this review highlighted that the forthcoming Tokyo games may offer a unique challenge for athletes trying to obtain optimal sleep, due to the anticipated thermal demands and the consequent irregular scheduling of events.
睡眠的作用现在被认为是运动表现成功的重要组成部分，而睡眠被认为是最有效的恢复策略之一。运动员普遍报告睡眠不足，有几个因素被提出来解释为什么精英运动员可能睡眠不好。然而，由于某些损伤类型的相关复杂性，残奥会运动员可能更容易出现睡眠不佳的风险。事实上，临床研究之前表明，与身体健全的人相比，残疾人的睡眠障碍发生率更高。然而，关于精英残奥会运动员睡眠的研究和基于证据的实践是有限的。首先，本叙述性综述旨在确定与残奥会相关的挑战，以获得最佳睡眠。其次，确定与残奥会人群中特定损伤群体相关的特定睡眠风险因素，最后提出可能对残奥会运动员有意义的潜在促进睡眠的策略。从这次综述中，可以初步观察到，残奥会运动员可能有更高的睡眠相关问题的风险，并且重要的是强调了目前在这个人群中缺乏了解。此外，本综述确定了在哪些方面需要进一步研究，以更好地了解特定损伤如何影响睡眠，从而影响运动表现。此外，本次综述还强调，由于预计的热需求和随后事件的不规则安排，即将到来的东京奥运会可能对运动员获得最佳睡眠带来独特的挑战。
