Investigating the sleep behaviours of international equestrian event riders

Eventing is a high-risk sport that demands optimal cognitive functioning for both performance and safety. Despite the known relationship between poor sleep and impaired cognitive performance (Fullagar et al., Sports Medicine, 2015, 161-186), there is no existing research on sleep in international equestrian athletes. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate sleep behaviours in this population. The study received institutional ethical approval and consisted of two components. First, the Athlete Sleep Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ)was used as an athlete-specific sleep-screening tool (Samuels et al., British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2016, 50, 418-422). A total of 230 participants (18-24 years = 43%, 25-29 years =18%, ≥30 years = 39%, females = 80%) completed the ASSQ in an online survey from August 2023 to February 2024. Sleep difficulty scores (SDS) were calculated from the ASSQ, and participants were categorised into none/mild (SDS ≤ 7), moderate (SDS 8-10), and severe (SDS ≥11) sleep difficulty groups. Second, sleep during a four-day competition in August 2023was assessed using wrist-worn actigraphy (GENEActiv, Activinsights) in 20 participants (Mage = 26.6 years, SDage =8.5, females = 50%). Raw accelerometer data were analysed using the GGIR R-package and the van Hees algorithm (van Hees et al., PLoS ONE, 2015, 10, e0142533). The mean SDS was6.8 (SD = 3.2), with 22% and 14% of participants classified as having moderate and severe sleep difficulties, respectively. The average actigraphy-derived total sleep time during the competition was 6.1 ± 1.1 hours, with notable intra- and inter-individual variation in sleep outcomes. A Mann-Whitney U test revealed that total sleep time was shorter in male (Mdn= 5.6 hours, IQR = 5.1 to 6.5 hours) than female (Mdn =6.8 hours, IQR = 6.1 to 7.2 hours) competitors (Z = 4.17, P <0.001). These results indicate a high prevalence of poor sleep among international event riders, with characteristics exceeding those of other athlete populations assessed with the ASSQ. Furthermore, short sleep durations were also common during competition, particularly in male eventers. Therefore, under-standing the factors underlying these findings, implementing structural changes, and designing targeted interventions to improve sleep practices in eventing is essential.