KENNESAW, GA — While sleep problems are widespread in active-duty U.S. military servicemembers, Army personnel appear to have the most problems.
That’s according to a study in Sleep which reported and compared obstructive sleep apnea and insomnia diagnoses among the military services. Researchers from Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, GA, and colleagues pointed out that epidemiologic studies of OSA and insomnia in the U.S. military are limited.1
For the study, researchers used data from the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database. They determined that, between 2005 and 2019, incidence rates of OSA and insomnia increased from 11 to 333 and 6 to 272 (per 10,000), respectively.
The authors noted that, while servicemembers in the Air Force, Navy and Marines were diagnosed with insomnia and OSA below expected rates, those in the Army had higher than expected rates (p < 0.001).
In addition, they determined that female servicemembers were underdiagnosed in both disorders (p < 0.001).
The study also advised that comparison of diagnoses following the transition from ICD 9 to 10 codes revealed significant differences in the amounts of OSA diagnoses only (p < 0.05).
“Since 2005, incidence rates of OSA and insomnia have markedly increased across all branches of the U.S. military,” researchers concluded. “Despite similar requirements for overall physical and mental health and resilience, service members in the Army had higher rates of insomnia and OSA.”
The authors called the results “unexpected” and suggested higher rates in the Army might “relate to inherent differences in the branches of the military or the role of the Army in combat operations. Future studies utilizing military-specific data and directed interventions are required to reverse this negative trend.”
- Moore BA, Tison LM, Palacios JG, Peterson AL, Mysliwiec V. Incidence of Insomnia and Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Active Duty United States Military Service Members. Sleep. 2021 Feb 3:zsab024. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsab024. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33532830.
