Are service members deployed in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan more likely to have sleep problems after deployment?

Background: Population-based studies examining the sleep patterns of US military personnel are lacking despite research showing the deleterious health effects of sleep. This purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between sleep duration and quality and deployment to the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Methods: Data were from the Millennium Cohort Study, a 21-year longitudinal study designed to determine the long-term health effects of military service. Baseline data was collected from 2001 to 2003 and follow-up data was collected from 2004 to 2006. Participants were placed into one exposure group based on their deployment status at follow–up: no deployments recorded or no deployments before follow-up, completed their follow-up survey post-deployment, or completed their follow-up survey during a deployment. Follow-up sleep duration was compared across the three deployment groups using ANCOVA to adjust for baseline characteristics. Self-reported trouble sleeping was also examined using logistic regression.

Results: Approximately 48,000 cohort members who completed a baseline and follow-up survey were included in this study. The nondeployed group comprised 73% of the population, while those who completed their follow-up after a deployment comprised 22%, and those who completed their follow-up during a deployment comprised 5%. Mean sleep duration at baseline was 6.7, 6.6, and 6.6 hours, and at follow-up was 6.7, 6.4, and 6.5 hours respectively in each of three aforementioned groups.

Conclusions: Mental health morbidity may be reduced through policy to promote healthy sleep among service members during and following deployment.