healthnotes
Zzzzzzzzzzzzz......? How Is Their Health Affected?
Sleep measure
Poorer sleep quality Shorter sleep duration Fatigue
Daytime impairment
Check marks indicate significant associations at p<0.01 after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, service and deployment history and characteristics, probable traumatic brain injury, shift work, and other covariates. Probable PTSD and depression are defined by validated cut points on self-report assessments.
How Much Is Functioning Impaired?
Sleep-related daytime impairments How many are fatigued?
Never 17.6% 22.5% 26.8% a month 1-2 x
1-2 x a week
more x a week
How many feel sleep problems interfere with their work or chores?*
Not at all
A little 48.6%
Somewhat to very much
34.5% 16.9% *considered daytime impairment
The Prevalence of Insufficient Sleep Duration and Poor Sleep Quality Across the Force
37.4% 7 hours
or more
5 hours or less
31.4% 6 hours 31.3%
Nearly 1/3 get 5 hours of sleep or less a night, an amount linked to an increased risk of mental and physical health problems.
Source: Sleep Problems and Their Impact on U.S. Servicemembers: Results of a Cross-Service Survey, RAND Corp, 2015.
14 - 12 - 10 - 8 - 6 - 4 - 2 - 0 -
Pittsburgh Sleep-Quality Index
Almost half of servicemembers have clinically significant sleep problems.
18.4% 3.2% 8.6% Use of sleep medications and stimulants 3 or 33%
Probable depression
Probable PTSD
Poorer physical health
Lower unit readiness
Service Means Poor Sleep?
How Do They Cope
With Sleep Problems and Daytime Fatigue?
Used sleep medications during the prior month
Used stimulant medications during the prior month
Used energy drinks at least once a week
Improving the quality and quantity of U.S. servicemembers’ sleep following deployment could help reduce other health problems, in- cluding depression and post-traumatic stress, according to a new RAND Corp. study. However, a lack of
consistent and trans- parent sleep-related policies might impede efforts to promote sleep health among servicemembers. “The U.S. mili-
(better) Clinical cut point
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 (worse)
tary has shifted from combat operations in Iraq and Afghani- stan toward helping servicemembers and veterans reintegrate into noncombat roles,” says Wendy Troxel, co- leader of the study and a behavioral scientist at RAND Corp. “One issue that is often overlooked once mili- tary men and women return home is that of persistent sleep prob- lems, because in many ways, such problems are viewed as endemic to military culture.”
26 MILITARY OFFICER AUGUST 2015
INFOGRAPHIC: COLIN HAYES
Percentage of servicemembers
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88