Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and Psychophysiological Response in Youth Badminton Athletes During the Season

Associations of Training and Academic Stress with Sleep in Dual-Career Collegiate Badminton Athletes: A Preliminary Study

Introduction

Poor sleep negatively impacts cognitive and physical functioning and affects athletic and academic achievement. "Dual-career" athletes emphasize the pursuit of academic excellence along with athletic performance.

Purpose

The study aimed to assess sleep characteristics and sleep quality in dual-career collegiate badminton athletes. Furthermore, the study explored associations between training and academic stress and sleep, providing a theoretical basis for better training and sleep programs for dual-career athletes.

Participants and Methods

In this study, 15 dual-career collegiate badminton athletes were recruited, and 12 subjects (male n = 8, female n = 4, mean age 20.3 ± 1.7) completed the questionnaire. Repeated measurements were taken monthly in the spring semester from March to August 2021. The questionnaire assessed sleep quality and daytime sleepiness by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Epworth Sleepiness Score (ESS). Moreover, we collected average training, study time per week, and monthly sports competitions and academic tests to quantify participants' training and academic stress.

Results

An average of 36.1% of dual-career athletes reported poor sleep and 25.0% had excessive daytime sleepiness. Overall, a significant positive correlation existed between PSQI scores and weekly study hours (r = 0.308, p = 0.009). Significant positive correlations were found between the four stressors and PSQI (August: r = 0.868, p < 0.001; July: r = 0.573, p = 0.026) or ESS scores (March: r = -0.678, p = 0.015; August: r = 0.598, p = 0.040) for specific months. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analysis identified that lower study and training hours predict better sleep quality.

Conclusion

Dual-career collegiate badminton athletes had a higher prevalence of poor sleep and daytime sleepiness, and daytime sleepiness did not result in better sleep quality; study and training hours had the greatest effect on the sleep quality of dual-career collegiate badminton athletes.

Exercise training-induced changes in immunometabolic markers in youth badminton athletes

The aim of this study was to investigate the metabolic and inflammatory fluctuations in two seasonal phases of badminton training, and the ability of youth badminton athletes to respond to an inflammatory challenge given by acute exercise on these markers. Thirteen youth badminton athletes who participated in national and international competitions were recruited. Metabolic and cytokine profile were measured at rest and in response to a maximal exercise intermittent test, in the pre- and final phases of a badminton annual season. At rest, glucose (–7.58 mg/dL; p = 0.045) and HDL-cholesterol (HDL-c) (–26.87 mg/dL; p < 0.0001) decreased at final-season. The variation of HDL-c in response to a maximal exercise test increased at final-season in comparison to pre-season (+ 10.20 mg/dL p = 0.042). Similarly, delta changes of IL-10 (+ 3.41 pg/ml; p = 0.047) and IL-1Ra (+ 141.3 pg/ml; p = 0.031) were greater at final-season. In addition, a significantly greater variation of the anti-inflammatory IL-10/IL-17 ratio was observed at final-season (+ 0.37; p = 0.010). In conclusion, our results showed a major responsivity of IL-10 and IL-1Ra to a maximal exercise even at the end of an entire season. The major responsivity of these cytokines at this time point suggests a more effective acute inflammatory response in youth badminton athletes. Therefore, the results of this study may be applied by coaches, trainers and sport nutritionist for proper training management.