Elite athletes have busy schedules with commitments to training, competition and media. Increasingly, athletes are staying connected with family, friends, coaches, and news via social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. However, excessive late night use of social media can decrease the total time available for sleep. Such sleep loss could be detrimental for next-day athletic performance. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of evening use of electronic devices and social media on overnight sleep quantity and sleep quality and next-day athletic and cognitive performance on elite Judo athletes (Judokas). Methods Participants included 23 Australian Judo athletes (Judokas) (12 males and 11 females, aged 18 years, range 16-26 years) who attended an international Judo camp at the Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra, ACT). Over a 6-day period each athlete wore an activity monitor on their wrist that continually measured activity/sleep patterns (Readiband, Fatigue Science). Daily diaries were completed of self-reported sleep onset, wake time duration; electronic device use, caffeine use and rate of perceived exertion during training periods. Cognitive performance was assessed on day 2 and day 4 using a Cogstate test battery (Cogstate Ltd). Physical performance was assessed daily using a single leg - triple hop test. 14 of the participants (the intervention group, 3 females and 11 males) agreed to have their electronic devices removed on days 3 and 4 (for 48 hours) and returned on day 5. The remaining 9 participants (the control group) were permitted to use their devices as normal for the 6 days. Results Five of the 14 athletes in the intervention group were excluded from final analyses due to their unanticipated use of electronic media during days 3 and 4. Thus, results were compared between 9 participants in the intervention group (9 males) and 9 in the control group (8 females, 1 male). When considering night 2 data as `baseline` for both groups, compared to the control group, the intervention group increased sleep duration by 17±78 minutes on night 3 (p=0.66) and by 4±70 minutes on night 4 (p=0.28) and decreased sleep onset by 39±8 minutes on night 3 (p=0.06) and 37±5 minutes on night 4 (p=0.002). There were no differences in any measure of physical performance or cognitive function between the groups. Conclusion This study has shown statistically insignificant trends for an increase in sleep duration and decrease in sleep onset as a consequence of evening removal of electronic devices. However these small changes did not appear to affect next-day athletic performance or cognitive function. It is likely that the lack of statistically significant difference between the groups was due to the relatively small sample sizes, and that greater changes in sleep duration are required before changes in athletic performance or cognition can be observed in elite Judoka athletes. Evening use of electronic devices - effects on sleep, cognition and performance of elite athletes. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277509073_Evening_use_of_electronic_devices__effects_on_sleep_cognition_and_performance_of_elite_athletes [accessed Jun 3, 2015].
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