title: Chronic lack of sleep is associated with increased sports injuries in adolescent athletes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Much attention has been given to the relationship between various training factors and athletic injuries, but no study has examined the impact of sleep deprivation on injury rates in young athletes. Information about sleep practices was gathered as part of a study designed to correlate various training practices with the risk of injury in adolescent athletes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Informed consent for participation in an online survey of training practices and a review of injury records was obtained from 160 student athletes at a combined middle/high school (grades 7 to 12) and from their parents. Online surveys were completed by 112 adolescent athletes (70% completion rate), including 54 male and 58 female athletes with a mean age of 15 years (SD=1.5; range, 12 to 18 y). The students' responses were then correlated with data obtained from a retrospective review of injury records maintained by the school's athletic department.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Multivariate analysis showed that hours of sleep per night and the grade in school were the best independent predictors of injury. Athletes who slept on average <8 hours per night were 1.7 times (95% confidence interval, 1.0-3.0; P=0.04) more likely to have had an injury compared with athletes who slept for ≥8 hours. For each additional grade in school, the athletes were 1.4 times more likely to have had an injury (95% confidence interval, 1.2-1.6; P<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Sleep deprivation and increasing grade in school appear to be associated with injuries in an adolescent athletic population. Encouraging young athletes to get optimal amounts of sleep may help protect them against athletic injuries.
  
  
  METHODS
  Level III.
authors.affiliation: *Elite Sports Medicine, Connecticut Children's Medical Center, Farmington, CT †Children's Orthopaedic Center, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles ‡Harvard-Westlake School, The Institute for Scholastic Sport Science and Medicine, Studio City, CA.
authors.forename: Matthew D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Milewski
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Skaggs
authors.forename: Gregory A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Bishop
authors.forename: J Lee
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Pace
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Ibrahim
authors.forename: Tishya A L
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Wren
authors.forename: Audrius
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barzdukas
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012892:Sleep Deprivation / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013334:Students