ABSTRACT
Background: Sleep is crucial for health, yet many young athletes do not achieve the recommend amount of sleep. Insufficient sleep comes with several negative consequences that may affect young athletes ability to go through rehabilitation of an injury, and sleep influences multiple biopsychosocial factors that are essential for an injured athlete during the rehabilitation process. Physiotherapists play a significant role in injured athletes’ rehabilitation, but have limited knowledge about how sleep can impact the athlete during this period.
Aim: The aim of this study was to explore young athletes experiences of the impact of sleep on the implementation of injury rehabilitation from a biopsychosocial perspective.
Method: A qualitative study with semistructured interviews where collected data were analyzed with inductive approach. Six informants were recruited through a purposive convenience sampling.
Results: The analysis resulted in 3 main categories with 10 subcategories. The main categories were: The importance of awareness of good sleep, Consequences of sleep deprivation on physical function and performance, Emotional and mental challenges of sleep deprivation during rehabilitation.
Conclusion: The results of the study indicate that sleep can have a significant impact on biopsychosocial factors during an athlete´s rehabilitation of an injury, which can affect the rehabilitation process.
Keywords: Sleep behaviours, Athletic injuries, physiotherapy, behavioral medicine, Social Cognitive Theory
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