Sex differences in sleep and influence of the menstrual cycle on women's sleep in junior endurance athletes.

ABSTRACT: Previous research shows that female athletes sleep better according to objective parameters but report worse subjective sleep quality than male athletes. However, existing sleep studies did not investigate variations in sleep and sleep stages over longer periods and have, so far, not elucidated the role of the menstrual cycle in female athletes' sleep. To address these methodological shortcomings, we investigated sex differences in sleep and sleep stages over 61 continuous days in 37 men and 19 women and examined the role of the menstrual cycle and its phases in 15 women. Sleep was measured by a non-contact radar, and menstrual bleeding was self-reported. Associations were investigated with multilevel modeling. Overall, women tended to report poorer subjective sleep quality (p = .057), but

SUBMITTER: Hrozanova M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8211225 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature