Research summary · Para sport
Sleep-related breathing disorders in sport and para sport
Twenty publications describe sleep-related breathing problems, associated factors and treatment outcomes in athletic populations.
- Publication year
- 2025
- First published online
- Publication type
- Systematic review
- Journal
- Sleep Medicine
- Population / context
- Multiple sports · Para athletes with spinal cord injury
What the publication reports
Reported prevalence varied from 7% to 86.5% across very different populations and assessments. Only one study addressed para athletes with spinal cord injury. Small treatment studies explored positive airway pressure and oral appliances, indicating an important but under-researched aspect of athlete health.
Limits and interpretation
The prevalence range is not a single estimate for athletes. Para-sport evidence and treatment comparisons were particularly sparse; findings cannot be generalised across impairments or used to promise performance gains from treatment.
Read the source
Consult the original record for the full author list, methods, references, funding and competing-interest disclosures.
A systematic review on sleep-related breathing disorders in athletes and para-athletes
Original publication / indexed recordPMID: 41160949DOI: 10.1016/j.sleep.2025.106882Reader discussion
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