Sleep and Fine Motor Skills: The Influence of Sex and the Level of Physical Activity.

Objective. To study the effects of self-assessment of sleep quality on psychometric test parameters and autonomic status in students of different genders and with different levels of habitual physical activity. Material and methods. We present here the results of a survey of 124 year 6 students (88 female, 36 male) studying medicine and 80 students (42 female, 38 male) majoring in physical education. All students underwent comprehensive psychophysiological investigations, which consisted of seven tests: simple motor reactions, selection reactions, reactions in conditions of interference, reactions to moving objects, critical flicker fusion frequency, and static and dynamic (by profile) coordinationometry. Autonomic status was assessed on the basis of heart rate variability and sleep quality and activation were evaluated by self-assessment; the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Questionnaire (PSQI) was used in sports students. Results. Sleep quality in male sports students with a predominantly morning chronotype was significantly better than that in medical students. Female medical students constituted the only group showing deterioration in praxis, which was associated with a greater extent of evening features in the chronotype and lower self-assessment of sleep quality. Increased drowsiness in the first half hour after waking up significantly reduced the quality of psychometric test performance in all subjects. The most informative test was the critical flicker fusion frequency, which was lower in females with poor sleep; reactions to a moving object were also informative. In addition, an increase in the sympathetic tone of the autonomic nervous system was seen only in females with poor sleep. Conclusion. Reduced sleep quality in college students causes fine motor impairments mediated by gender, the level of habitual motor activity, and the circadian chronotype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]