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