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Chronobiology International
The Journal of Biological and Medical Rhythm Research
Volume 41, 2024 - Issue 3
143
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Original Article

Lighting the way: Exploring diurnal physical performance differences in school-aged visually impaired children and adolescents

ORCID Icon, ORCID Icon, ORCID Icon & ORCID Icon
Pages 417-426 | Received 01 Aug 2023, Accepted 26 Jan 2024, Published online: 01 Feb 2024
 

ABSTRACT

Circadian rhythms play a pivotal role in governing various physiological processes, including physical performance. However, in individuals deprived of light perception, such as the blind, these circadian rhythms face disruption. This study aimed to explore the influence of disturbed circadian rhythms on short-term maximal physical performance in children and adolescents with visual impairment. Forty-five volunteers participated in this study, comprising 17 blind, 13 visually impaired, and 15 sighted participants. The participants underwent a series of tests assessing maximal isometric strength performance across two days. To mitigate the influence of morning session fatigue on the evening results, each participant group performed in two separate testing sessions (i.e. in the morning (7:00 h) and in the evening (17:00 h)) on non-consecutive days in a randomized and counterbalanced setting, with approximately 36 h of recovery time between sessions. To mitigate the impact of inter-individual differences on mean values and to account for the influence of age and sex on the studied variables, data were normalized. The outcomes revealed a significant diurnal variation in maximal isometric strength performance among sighted individuals, with peak performance observed in the evening. This pattern aligns with their well-entrained circadian rhythm. In contrast, blind and visually impaired individuals did not display significant diurnal variation, signaling disrupted circadian rhythms due to the absence of light perception. These findings emphasize the crucial consideration of circadian rhythms in assessments of physical performance, especially among participants with visual impairments.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express their sincere gratitude to all the participants for their dedicated effort and invaluable cooperation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

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