YEAR-ROUND SPORT

Previous studies have shown that adolescents participating in sport year-round found a 42% increase risk of sports injury compared with single-season athletes.^1,2­­­­

AGE

Age also plays a factor in sports injuries. As the pediatric and adolescent athletes increase in age, so does the likelihood of sporting injuries. With increasing age in school, there are obviously greater demands of mental and physical abilities through sports participation and increasing levels of competition.^1,3,4 Furthermore, older athletes are more likely to accumulate more training time and the potential for overuse injury. Adequate recovery becomes even more important when the body is put under these mental and physical stress.

SLEEP

One of the best influences of recovery is sleep. Athletic performance in college-age athletes has been shown to be influenced by sleeping habits, whether the athletes slept longer or shorter hours. A study published in the Journal of Sleep found that college-age basketball players who slept at least 10 hours per night had the ability to accelerated faster, had the accuracy in shooting, and a positive subjective view into their mental well-being.⁵ While, a study subjected cyclist with partial sleep deprivation of 3 hours in the middle of the night, and found that cardiovascular performance (peak oxygen consumption) was negatively influenced.⁶

“Sleep deprivation is known to dampen reaction times and affect mood and cognitive functions, which could increase the risk of injury in adolescent athletes.” ^7,8

A study published in the Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics reported that student athletes from the age of 12 to 18 years can also get affected by sleep deprivation:

“Athletes who slept on average <8 hours per night had 1.7 times greater risk of being injured than those who slept ≥8 hours.”⁹

Additionally,

For each increase of age in school, the risk of injury increased by 1.4 times.⁹

What they also found was that sports injury was not associated with any particular gender, whether the pediatric and adolescent played more than one sport, or was exposed to additional private coaching.

“The estimated injury rate for the athletes who participated in this study was approximately 1.7 injuries per 1000 hours of participation.” ⁹

In Conclusion

“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.” ⁹

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2.Cuff S, Loud K, O’Riordan MA (2010) .Overuse injuries in high school athletes. Clin Pediatr (Phila);49:731–736.
3.Kucera KL, Marshall SW, Kirkendall DT, Marchak PM, Garrett WE (2005). Injury history as a risk factor for incident injury in youth soccer. Br J Sports Med;39:462.
4.Malina RM, Morano PJ, Barron M, Miller SJ, Cumming SP, Kontos AP (2006). Incidence and player risk factors for injury in youth football. Clin J Sport Med;16:214–222.
5.Mah CD, Mah KE, Kezirian EJ, et al..The effects of sleep extension on the athletic performance of collegiate basketball players.Sleep.2011;34:943–950.
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7.Durmer JS, Dinges DF. (2005). Neurocognitive consequences of sleep deprivation.Semin Neurol.;25:117–129.
8.Philip P, Taillard J, Sagaspe P, Valtat C, Sanchez-Ortuno M, Moore N, Charles A, Bioulac B (2004).Age, performance and sleep deprivation. J Sleep Res.;13:105–110.
9.Milewski, MD., Skaggs, David LM., Bishop, GA., Pace, JL., Ibrahim, DA., Wren, TA., Barzdukas, A. (2014). Chronic Lack of Sleep is Associated With Increased Sports Injuries in Adolescent Athletes. Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics;34(2):129-133).