Study: 85% of military personnel have sleep disorder

TACOMA, Wash. - A study has found that 85% of U.S. military participants had a clinically relevant sleep disorder, according to an article from a military news service. Of those, 51% had obstructive sleep apnea. The study, published in the journal Sleep and conducted by researchers at Madigan Army Medical Center, found that participants slept a mean of only 5.74 hours per night, with 41.8% reporting sleeping five hours or fewer per night. The study analyzed 725 diagnostic polysomnograms, which are used to diagnose sleep problems. Participants were active duty military personnel from the U.S. Army, Air Force and Navy; 93.2% were men; 85% were combat veterans. "While sleep deprivation is part of the military culture, the high prevalence of short sleep duration in military personnel with sleep disorders was surprising," stated Dr. Vincent Mysliwiec, the study's lead author, in a statement. "The potential risk of increased accidents as well as long-term clinical consequences of both short sleep duration and a sleep disorder in our population is unknown."