Sleep is understood to benefit physical and psychological performances within professional sport. In professional rugby, peak performance consists of quick reaction times, however fatigue had been found to hinder this due to poor sleep quality. Therefore, sleep becomes important in the recovery of these athletes.
Objectives: The main objective of this study was to determine if standardised sleep hygiene interventions can show improvement in subjective sleep over a period of one week. This study also aims to identify if the Athlete Sleep Screen Questionnaire (ASSQ) can be completed effectively within a large team for sleep monitoring.
Methods: 20 professional rugby union players participated in this study. Each completed the ASSQ twice, one week apart. Intervention group completed sleep hygiene interventions over one week and control group continued their normal evening routine.
Results: There was no significant effect found between conditions (SDS and chronotype) and group (intervention or control) (p =0.501, p > 0.05), time (pre and post) and group (p =0.403, p > 0.05), and lastly between the time and conditions (p =0.303, p > 0.05).
Conclusion: Standardised sleep interventions showed no improvement in subjective sleep when participants present with mild to moderate sleep disruption. The ASSQ is not effective to complete regular monitoring due to adherence but appropriate in identifying which players will need further investigation.