Effects of sleep quality and daytime sleepiness on postural control in healthy young adults

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of sleep quality and daytime sleepiness on postural control in healthy young adults. 62 healthy young adults (age: 22.60±3.63, F/M 39/23) between the ages of 18-35 were included in the study. After collecting demographic data from the volunteers participating in the study, they were asked to fill out the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). According to the scores obtained from the scales, the participants were divided into two groups as the control group (PSQI≤5, ESS≤10) and the evaluation group (PSQI>5, ESS>10). Then, dynamic balance assessments of the participants were made via the Prokin PK200. Balance measurements were performed with eyes open in three different ways: bipedal, on the right foot, and on the left foot. At the end of the measurements, Perimeter Length, Area Gap Percentage, Medium Speed, Medium equilibrium center-AP, and Medium equilibrium center-ML data were obtained. Statistical analysis of the data was made using IBM SPSS Statistics Ver. 23, the results of the analysis were given as arithmetic mean, standard deviation, and frequency distribution, and Independent Groups T-test and Mann Whitney-U test were used in the analysis. Spearman Correlation Analysis was used for the correlation analysis between sleep quality and dynamic balance data. As a result of the statistical analysis, statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups in the values of the perimeter length assessed on the right foot, medium speed assessed on the right foot, and area gap percentage assessed on the left foot (p<0.05). When the correlation analysis was examined, there were positive weak correlations between PSQI and perimeter length assessed on the right foot (r=.269, p=.034), medium speed assessed on the right foot (r=.273, p=.032), and a negative weak correlation between PSQI and area gap percentage assessed on left foot (r=-.255, p=.046). Key words: sleep quality, daytime sleepiness, postural control, PSQI, ESS