Influence of sleep deprivation on indices of skill related physical fitness in female athletes during morning and evening

  Many studies indicated that sleep deprivation has several different effects on athletic performance. However, there are controversies in findings and little attention has been on the interaction of sleep deprivation
with circadian rhythm. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of 4 hours of sleep deprivation on indices of skill related physical fitness during morning and evening. Twenty three
female collegiate athletic students with at least 2 years’ experience of regular participation in sport activities (age: 21.47±0.73yr, height: 160.4±4.82 cm, weight: 56.25±1.07 kg) participated in this study voluntarily. Study variables were measured during 4 testing sessions with one week interval. Measurements were performed after 8 hours sleep deprivation during morning (0:700-0:800) and evening (18:00-19:00). Measured study variables and tests included neuromuscular coordination (stick test), reaction time (nelson test), balance (static balance test)
and agility (Illinois test). Four hours of sleep deprivation induced negative effects on reaction time and balance during morning (p=0.01 and 0.035 respectively). But did not cause significant effect on agility during
morning and evening (p>0.05). It was concluded that short-term sleep deprivation adversely affects reaction time and balance in the morning.