Sleep patterns and physical readiness: Findings from the millennium cohort study

Poor sleep is common among US military personnel and may be related to adverse health outcomes. Whether healthy sleep patterns are related to improved physical readiness remains unknown. Data were from Millennium Cohort Study participants who completed three consecutive questionnaires over a 7 year period (n= 46,437) from 2001-2008. Longitudinal modeling techniques were employed to assess readiness in relation to self-reported sleep duration and insomnia symptoms, while adjusting for relevant fixed and time varying covariates. In this study physical readiness was defined as reporting high self-rated health and few lost work days. Insomnia was identified by symptoms reported on both the Patient Health Questionnaire anxiety module and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist, Civilian Version. At baseline, 22% reported insomnia symptoms and 14% reported sleeping less than 6 hours per night. Participants reporting insomnia symptoms were approximately half as likely [odds ratio (OR) 0.53, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.50-0.56] to report better self-rated health compared to those not reporting insomnia symptoms. Similarly, those sleeping less than 6 hours were less likely to report higher self-rated health (OR: 0.73, 95% CI 0.69-0.77) compared to those sleeping 7 hours. Participants reporting insomnia symptoms (OR: 0.49, 95% CI: 0.47, 0.52) and those sleeping less than 6 hours (OR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.81-0.88) had significantly reduced odds of reporting fewer lost work days, compared to those with healthy sleep. Results suggest that healthy sleep patterns are significantly associated with physical readiness measures. Sleep management is a potential intervention target to enhance force health.