Trends and Factors Associated with Insomnia and Sleep Apnea in All United States Military Service Members from 2005 to 2014.

Sleep disorders are a critical issue for the military, as they impactoperational readiness, personnel health, wellbeing and health-carecosts. The incidence of insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)are increasing in the United States civilian population, and rates inmilitary personnel exceed those of civilians. Using a comprehensivedatabase, rates of medical encounters for insomnia and OSA wereinvestigated and their associations with various demographic factorsexamined in the total US military population [1,381,406
25,123,mean
standard deviation (SD) personnel per year] from 2005 to2014. Encounters for insomnia increased from 16 of 1000 in 2005 to 75of 1000 in 2014 (372%). Encounters for OSA increased from 44 of 1000in 2005 to 273 of 1000 in 2014 (517%). Those experiencing the greatestincreases in insomnia included women, individuals≥40 years of age,blacks, senior enlisted personnel and Army personnel compared to othermilitary services. Those experiencing the greatest rates of OSA includedmen, individuals≥40 years of age, blacks, senior officers and Armypersonnel. Rates of insomnia and OSA increased linearly over time(R2=0.95–0.99;P<0.01) for every subpopulation except those aged<20 years. In response to this epidemic-like increase in sleep disorders,their prevention, identification and aggressive treatment should becomea health-care priority of the US military.