Sleep complaints in Italian Olympic and recreational athletes

The aim of the study was to evaluate sleep complaints in two groups of subjects all involved in sport but differing with respect to level of commitment and weekly amount of practice. The first group was composed of 103 top Italian Olympic athletes. The second group consisted of 198 Recreational athletes, divided into two subsets on the basis of their self-reported habitual weekly amount of exercise. Subjects were requested to fill in a brief questionnaire (SDQ) assessing the presence and intensity of sleep disorders according to DSM IV-TR and ICSD-2 criteria. A logistic regression was carried out in order to assess any differences in sleep disorders between Olympic and Recreational athletes. The Olympic athletes were more likely to show no sleep disorders and less likely to show chronic or occasional sleep disorders as compared to both the other groups of athletes. No differences were found between the two subsets of Recreational athletes.