Effect of mental fatigue on decision-making skill during simulated congested match schedule in professional soccer athletes

The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of mental fatigue from playing videogame immediately prior matches during a simulated congested match schedule (SCMS) on decision-making performance in professional soccer players. Sixteen players participated were volunteers in this study. The participants performed four simulated soccer matches (24-h of interval between matches) during a SCMS. The videogame-induced mental fatigue was performed 20-min prior each match. Decision-making skill assessments were obtained before and after 60-min playing sport-based videogame. The two-way Anova was used to analyze day (1 versus 2 versus 3 versus 4) x time (pre-versus post-videogame) interaction for decision-making skill. It was not observed day x time interaction ( F (3, 90) = 0.41; p = 0.73; ηp 2 = 0.002), day ( F (1, 30) = 0.38; p = 0.76; ηp 2 = 0.004) or time ( F (1, 30) = 0.25; p = 0.90; ηp 2 = 0.002) main effects for decision-making accuracy. There was a significant day x time interaction for response time of decision-making skill ( F (3, 90) = 12.1; p = 0.02; ηp 2 = 0.09). Impaired response time in post-videogame assessments when compared to pre-videogame for all days ( p < 0.05), with a greater impairment on day 3 than days 1 and 2 ( p < 0.05). In conclusion, results showed that mental fatigue caused by sport-based videogame immediately prior matches during a SCMS impaired decision-making skill in professional soccer players.