Optimal Total Sleep Duration per Day to Maintain Health-Related Quality of Life in Male Collegiate Athletes: A Cross-Sectional Study

Purpose This study investigated the optimal total sleep duration per day required by collegiate athletes to maintain the physical and mental health-related quality of life (HRQOL), compared with non-athlete students. Methods In this cross-sectional study, a questionnaire survey was conducted to assess demographic variables, lifestyle and sleep habits, and HRQOL in 392 collegiate students (non-athletes, n = 174; athletes, n = 218). Physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) were assessed using the short-form-8 health survey. Participants with both good PCS and MCS were defined as having a good HRQOL. To confirm an association between the total sleep duration per day and good HRQOL, logistic regression analyses were conducted in non-athlete students and collegiate athletes separately. Subsequently, receiver-operating curve (ROC) analyses were performed for the detection of the cut-off point of total sleep duration per day sufficient to maintain a good HRQOL. Results The average total sleep duration per day was 7 h 19 min for collegiate athletes, and 78.9% of them had a worse PCS. The cut-off point of total sleep duration per day to maintain good HRQOL for collegiate athletes was 7.92 h (area under ROC, 0.64; P = 0.038; sensitivity, 75.4%; specificity, 57.9%), which was longer than 6.79 h for non-athlete students. Conclusion Collegiate athletes required longer nocturnal sleep than non-athlete students. Nevertheless, their habitual nocturnal sleep duration was shorter compared to their optimal duration; around 70% of them faced chronic insufficient sleep. Improving sleep habits and sleep education is important in maintaining their good health-related quality of life.