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Changes in sleep quality of athletes under normobaric hypoxia equivalent to 2,000-m altitude: a polysomnographic study

¹Department of Sports Science, Japan Institute of Sports Sciences, Nishigaoka, Kita-ku, Tokyo; ²Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, Mikashima, Tokorozawa-shi, Saitama-ken; and ³Department of Sports Medicine, Japan Institute of Sports Sciences, Nishigaoka, Kita-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Submitted 20 March 2007 ; accepted in final form 7 August 2007

This study evaluated the sleep quality of athletes in normobaric hypoxia at a simulated altitude of 2,000 m. Eight male athletes slept in normoxic condition (NC) and hypoxic conditions equivalent to those at 2,000-m altitude (HC). Polysomnographic recordings of sleep included the electroencephalogram (EEG), electrooculogram, chin surface electromyogram, and electrocardiogram. Thoracic and abdominal motion, nasal and oral airflow, and arterial blood oxygen saturation (Sa_O2) were also recorded. Standard visual sleep stage scoring and fast Fourier transformation analyses of the EEG were performed on 30-s epochs. Subjective sleepiness and urinary catecholamines were also monitored. Mean Sa_O2 decreased and respiratory disturbances increased with HC. The increase in respiratory disturbances was significant, but the increase was small and subclinical. The duration of slow-wave sleep (stage 3 and 4) and total delta power (<3 Hz) of the all-night non-rapid eye movement sleep EEG decreased for HC compared with NC. Subjective sleepiness and amounts of urinary catecholamines did not differ between the conditions. These results indicate that acute exposure to normobaric hypoxia equivalent to that at 2,000-m altitude decreased slow-wave sleep in athletes, but it did not change subjective sleepiness or amounts of urinary catecholamines.

normobaric hypoxia; slow-wave sleep; polysomnography; respiratory disturbances