Effect of Sleep Hygiene and Sleep Extension on Performance in Soccer Players

NCT ID: NCT06551935

Last Updated: 2025-03-10

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 33 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2024-08-20
• Study Completion Date: 2025-02-06

Brief Summary

Sleep is essential for recovery and performance in athletes, yet they often struggle with inadequate sleep duration and quality. Theoretically, strategies such as sleep extension and sleep hygiene could improve sleep and subsequent recovery in athletes, but their effectiveness remains largely unstudied in the literature. This study aimed to analyze the effects of sleep extension and sleep hygiene on physical and cognitive performance in soccer players.

Detailed Description

Twenty soccer players will be randomized (1:1 ratio) into intervention and control groups. The study will last 4 weeks, divided into two periods: baseline (2 weeks) and intervention (2 weeks). In the baseline period, the players will maintain their normal routine and their sleep habits will be monitored by actigraphy and sleep diaries. The players physical performance will be assessed by the 30-15 intermittent fitness test, countermovement jump, isometric mid-thigh pull and 30-meter sprint, while the cognitive performance will be assessed with the 3-minute psychomotor vigilance test. During the intervention period, the intervention group will extend their usual time in bed by 25% than their baseline period, and adopt sleep hygiene behaviors, while the control group will maintain their usual sleep routine. The physical performance of the players of both groups will be assessed with the same physical tests of the baseline period at the end of week 1 and week 2.

Conditions

Sleep Extension; Sleep Hygiene; Athletic Performance

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Control Group

Without sleep intervention

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Habitual sleep habits without intervention

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Sleep habits maintenance

Experimental Group

Sleep hygiene and sleep extension

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Sleep extension and sleep hygiene

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Players will extend their time in bed by 25%, based on their baseline sleep, and adopt sleep hygiene behaviors: relatively fixed sleep schedule; do not lie in bed awake for long periods of time; no caffeine and no alcohol prior to bedtime; avoid heavy meals close to bedtime; sleep environment cool, dark and quiet; low exposure to screen lights before bedtime, only with nightshift mode and low luminosity (avoid high cognitive demanded activities, like gaming); low luminosity near to bedtime; ensure adequate exposure to light in the morning.

Interventions

Habitual sleep habits without intervention

Sleep habits maintenance

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Sleep extension and sleep hygiene

Players will extend their time in bed by 25%, based on their baseline sleep, and adopt sleep hygiene behaviors: relatively fixed sleep schedule; do not lie in bed awake for long periods of time; no caffeine and no alcohol prior to bedtime; avoid heavy meals close to bedtime; sleep environment cool, dark and quiet; low exposure to screen lights before bedtime, only with nightshift mode and low luminosity (avoid high cognitive demanded activities, like gaming); low luminosity near to bedtime; ensure adequate exposure to light in the morning.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Age: ≥18 years old
• Sex: Male
• Football players competed in an official competition, organized by the Portuguese Football - Federation (FPF) or regional football associations

Exclusion Criteria

• Players who take sleep medication
• Injured players
• Players with clinical sleep problems

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: MALE
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

University of Maia

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Lúcio Cunha

Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

University of Maia

Maia, Porto District, Portugal

Countries

Portugal

Other Identifiers

UI/BD/151482/2021

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id