Disturbed Sleep Among OEF/OIF Military Personnel and Veterans
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Credit Newswise —

Research conducted by Dr. Taylor Plumb and Dr. Diane Zelman from the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University shows high rates of disturbed sleep and indicators of possible sleep disorders experienced by current and former military personnel who served in Afghanistan or Iraq during Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) or Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). These findings highlight the need to provide regular and detailed assessment of sleep among individuals who have been deployed in OIF/OEF, and the need to adapt and evaluate behavioral treatments for insomnia and nightmares to address sleep disturbances among OEF and OIF personnel and veterans.

 

The research was conducted as a part of Dr. Plumb's doctoral dissertation, under Dr. Zelman's supervision. They surveyed the types, severity and correlates of sleep disturbances experienced by 375 current or former military personnel (84.7% male) who served in Afghanistan or Iraq during Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) or Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). The participants had returned from deployment over the last five years.

A high percentage of military personnel reported disrupted sleep, even many months following deployment. 56.3% of participants reported their sleep as "bad" or "very bad" within the last month.

Participants reported experiencing delayed sleep onset (40.5%) and middle of the night awakenings (58.6%) at least 3 times a week. Other reported sleep symptoms experienced at least once a week included feelings of general nervousness (46.1%), anxiety/panic (26.7%), and nightmares (trauma related: 30.2%, not trauma related: 26.9%). A large percentage of military personnel reported sleep onset, sleep efficiency, and total sleep time at levels similar to those of persons with sleep disorders (45.4%, 55.9% and 21.4% respectively).

Although sleep problems were considerably more common and severe among individuals who scored over clinical cut-points for PTSD, depression and anxiety, sleep problems were also extremely common (30- 42%) among those who did not exceed cut-points for any of these disorders. Greater combat exposure, female gender, divorced or widowed status, lower education and lower rank was associated with significantly greater sleep problems.