Evaluation of the relationship of perceived stress with sleep quality and nutritional status in professional female basketball players

This study evaluated the relationship between perceived stress, sleep quality in professional female basketball players, and nutrition. The study was carried out in the 2022-2023 season by applying a questionnaire for 80 adult (aged 19 and over) professional female basketball players who voluntarily agreed to participate in the research and are playing in the Women's Basketball Super League affiliated to the Turkish Basketball Federation and the Women's Basketball League which is a sub-league of this super league. General characteristics of basketball players, training information, anthropometric measurements, perceived stress scale (PSS) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were evaluated by the questionnaire.The researcher measured anthropometric measurements of basketball players participating in the study, such as height (cm), body weight (kg) and body fat percentages (%).The average age of the basketball players was evaluated as 25.5±5.96 years. The average height, body weight and body fat percentage of the basketball players participating in the study were determined as 177.6 8.48 cm, 68.8±10.09 kg, 18.4%±3.83, respectively. The average daily energy intake of basketball players is 2135.1±861.27 kcal. It was determined that 39.3±9.37% of the total energy came from carbohydrates, 21.6±4.62% of the total comes from protein and 39.0±8.65% of the total comes from fat. The average daily caffeine intake of basketball players was found as 170.0±114.95 mg. The average amount of tryptophan and tyrosine consumed by basketball players per day was evaluated as 1208±44.38 mg and 3722.9±407.51 mg, respectively. Omega-3 and omega-6 intake averages are determined as 2.4±1.68 mg and 12.6±6.38 mg, respectively. The total score average of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) for the basketball players participating in the study was determined as 8.6±2.54 and it is found that all the players have poor sleep quality. A low level statistical significance in a positive way was found between the caffeine consumption of basketball players and sleep latency (r=0.251, p<0.05). On the other hand, a low level of negative significance was found between protein consumption and daytime dysfunction (r=-0.284, p<0.05). A negative low statistical significance was found between the consumed amount of tyrosine, tryptophan, and omega-3 by basketball players and the PSQI daytime dysfunction sub-dimension (r=-0.291, p<0.01, r=-0.298, p<0.01, r=-0.244, p<0.05). The mean score of the basketball players participating in the study on PSS, insufficient self-efficacy and perception of stress/discomfort was determined as 5.2±0.57, 3.1±0.7, and 2.7±0.65, respectively. A positive moderate statistical significance was found between the PSS total score and the PSQI total score (r=0.452, p<0.01). As a result, as the perceived stress of the basketball players participating in the study increases, their sleep quality worsens. It was determined that as the amount of tyrosine, tryptophan, and omega-3 taken from the foods increases, their daytime dysfunctions decrease. As the amount of caffeine consumed by basketball players increases, sleep latency decreases. It was determined that when the daily average riboflavin intake of the basketball players participating in the study increases, the perceived stress level decreases. It was determined that the perception of insufficient self-efficacy increases with the increase in daily average intake of vitamin A, thiamine, riboflavin, vitamin C and phosphorus. Stress and sleep levels, which are important factors affecting the performance of athletes, change according to the nutrients taken. It was determined in this study that while esprcially protein, tryptophan, tyrosine, omega-3, omega-6, caffeine intakes are related with sleep, intake of some micronutrients is reşated with stress. For this reason, the energy and nutrient intakes of the athletes should be followed individually.