Tuesday, June 10, 2008

U.S. Veterans Battle Insomnia after Returning from Iraq

A study (ID# 0697) being presented as an oral presentation this morning at SLEEP 2008 shows that insomnia is a significant problem for combat-exposed U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq.

The study examined the sleep of 14
Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans who have post-deployment adjustment disorders. They were compared with 14 people who have primary insomnia and 14 good sleepers.

The veterans reported much worse sleep quality and sleep efficiency, increased time to fall asleep and wake time after falling asleep, and more nocturnal awakenings than good sleepers. Sleep measures of the veterans were similar to those of the people with primary insomnia.

The veterans also had more severe disruptive nocturnal behaviors than both good sleepers and people with primary insomnia.

A study (ID# 0736) that was presented yesterday as a poster presentation shows that U.S. veterans of the war in Iraq who struggle with insomnia may prefer treatment that combines medications with non-pharmacological approaches such as relaxation therapy. Veterans also preferred receiving therapy through MP3 files and the Internet.

Another study (ID# 0556) presented yesterday as a poster presentation reports that black veterans are significantly less likely than white or Asian veterans to adhere to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy for obstructive sleep apnea.

The SLEEP 2008 abstract book is available online at http://www.journalsleep.org/PDF/AbstractBook2008.pdf.

1 comment:

  1. This is something interesting because I had never figured out that condition being truth, it's really interesting my grandfather was war veteran, I'll ask him if he has those symptoms.

    ReplyDelete