Evaluation of the Level of Alertness with Variations in Reaction Time in Bulgarian Sport Students

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate the level of alertness with reaction time test in Bulgarian sport students. Materials and methods: Our sample includes 25 sports student, mean age 19.92, recruited from different disciplines from National Sports Academy “Vassil Levski”, Sofia, Bulgaria. Reaction time has been assessed twice a day (once in the morning and once in the afternoon) to check if reaction time has a relationship with the level of alertness based on chronotype according to Morningness-eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ). Outcome measures include Vienna Test System (test form S7) and MEQ. Results: The moderate morning type had a faster reaction time both, in the morning and in the afternoon as compared to the intermediate and moderate evening type (reaction time with and without cue). Intermediate type had the worst reaction time and moderate evening type were in the middle. Conclusions: The main objective of this study is to find out if the reaction time depends on the level of alertness. It has been found that the participants, which are moderate morning type, indicating high alertness in the morning, have faster reaction time in the morning and in the evening (with or without cue).