The Relationship Between Sleep Quality and Shooting Accuracy in Female Archers: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Precision sports such as archery require sustained attention, fine motor control, and technical consistency, all of which may be influenced by sleep quality. This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the association between sleep quality and shooting accuracy in female archers and to determine whether this association persisted after adjustment for age and sport experience. Twenty-six female archers (mean age: 21.23 ± 2.35 years) participated in the study. Sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and shooting accuracy (%) was calculated by normalizing the total score according to the number of shots performed. Associations between PSQI total score and shooting accuracy were examined using Pearson and Spearman correlation analyses and linear regression models. The mean PSQI total score was 6.15 ± 1.95, and the mean shooting accuracy was 77.69 ± 13.26%. Neither Pearson (r = 0.168, p = 0.413, BCa 95% CI [−0.222, 0.505]) nor Spearman correlation (ρ = 0.043, p = 0.835, BCa 95% CI [−0.343, 0.426]) showed a statistically significant association between PSQI total score and shooting accuracy. The adjusted regression model including age and sport experience was also not statistically significant (R2 = 0.032, F(3, 22) = 0.24, p = 0.866), and PSQI total score was not significantly associated with shooting accuracy after adjustment (B = 1.11, β = 0.163, p = 0.447, 95% CI [−1.86, 4.07]). In this sample of female archers, no statistically significant association was detected between habitual sleep quality assessed by the PSQI and shooting accuracy. Given the small sample size and the wide confidence intervals, larger prospective studies incorporating objective and session-specific sleep measures are needed to clarify the relationship between sleep quality and precision performance in archery.