Many police officers not sleeping enough

BOSTON, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Fifty-one percent of U.S. and Canadian police officers with a sleep disorder admit they were more likely to fall asleep while driving, researchers say.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found 40 percent of a study of 4,957 police officers screened from July 2005 to December 2007 had at least one sleep disorder, such as insomnia.

Of the police officers screened for a sleep disorder, 63 percent were more likely to violate safety protocols, 43 percent were more likely to make administrative errors and 22 percent were more likely to be injured on the job, compared with officers who sleep soundly, the study said.

Dr. Charles Czeisler, chief of the division of sleep medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and colleagues said untreated sleep disorders among police officers may adversely affect their health and safety and pose a risk to the public.

Of the 5,000 almost participants, 40.4 percent screened positive for at least one sleep disorder, most of whom had not been diagnosed previously. Of the total sample of officers, 33.6 percent screened positive for obstructive sleep apnea and 6.5 percent for moderate to severe insomnia.

Twenty-eight percent of participants who completed the sleepiness scale reported excessive sleepiness.

The respondents who screened positive for obstructive sleep apnea or any sleep disorder had an increased prevalence of reported physical and mental health conditions, including diabetes, depression and cardiovascular disease.