SAN DIEGO, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- A study of more than 41,000 U.S. military members found many deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan suffered from lack of sleep or poor sleep, researchers say.
Lead author Amber D. Seelig, data analyst at the Naval Health Research Center in San Diego, says the study involved 41,225 personnel on military rosters who completed a baseline survey between 2001 and 2003, as well as a follow-up survey between 2004 and 2006 from all service branches, including active duty and Reserve/National Guard personnel.
About 27 percent of study participants completed the follow-up survey during or after deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The study, published in the journal Sleep, found the study participants who had trouble sleeping at follow-up indicated that during the previous month they had moderate or more severe trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, or that the problem occurred several days or more than half the days.
Trouble sleeping was reported by 25 percent of participants who had not deployed, 27.1 percent of those in the post-deployment group and 30.5 percent of people in the deployment group.
Adjusted average sleep time was fairly short, with almost every subgroup reporting that they slept about 6.5 hours. This degree of moderate sleep restriction may have lasting effects on performance that cannot be quickly recovered, the researchers say.
