Skip to main content

Sleep Apnea Puts Soldiers In Harm's Way

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on July 2, 2025.

via HealthDay

WEDNESDAY, July 2, 2025 — Sleep apnea could be increasing the risks borne by U.S. soldiers serving on the front lines of combat, a new study says.

Front-line soldiers are far more likely to suffer PTSD, anxiety, depression and injuries if they have sleep apnea, researchers reported recently in the journal Chest.

“This study underscores the growing importance of early intervention in sleep apnea and access to high quality, cost-effective sleep care for service members,” lead researcher Emerson Wickwire, section chief of sleep medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said in a news release.

Active-duty service members already struggle to get their minimum seven hours of shut-eye per night, researchers said in background notes. Only one-third regularly get enough sleep.

There’s also a growing awareness of sleep apnea among troops, with diagnoses increasing more than tenfold between 2005 and 2019, researchers added.

For this study, researchers compared about 60,000 service members with newly diagnosed sleep apnea against soldiers with similar backgrounds but no apnea problems.

During the 12 months after their diagnosis, soldiers with sleep apnea had an additional 170,511 doctor’s visits and 1,852 ER visits compared to the healthy service members, results show.

They also had a higher risk of health and mental problems, including a:

“This study is a wake-up call. Sleep apnea is not just a medical condition — it’s a force readiness issue,” researcher Col. Vincent Capaldi II, chair of psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, Md., said in a news release.

“The findings highlight how untreated sleep disorders contribute to mental health challenges, traumatic injuries, and increased health care utilization in our service members,” Capaldi, a medical doctor, continued. “We must prioritize sleep health as a cornerstone of operational performance and long-term well-being for the force.”

It’s not clear why sleep apnea increases these health risks; the study was not designed to prove a direct cause-and-effect link.

However, researchers speculated that daytime sleepiness caused by sleep apnea could increase soldiers’ risk for accidents and mishaps.

More research is needed to better understand these associations, and whether treatment for sleep apnea could lower service members’ risk, researchers said.

Sources

  • University of Maryland, news release, June 30, 2025

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Read this next

Early Smartphone Access Harms Developing Minds, Study Warns

TUESDAY, June 22, 2025 — Care about your kid’s well being? Then best not give them a smartphone until they’re a full-fledged teenager, a major new study...

Few Schools Screen Students For Depression, Anxiety

TUESDAY, July 22, 2025 — Fewer than one-third of American public schools are screening students for psychological problems, years after the U.S. Surgeon General declared a...

Four-Day Work Week Benefits Workers, Employers, Study Says

TUESDAY, July 22, 2205 — A four-day work week can lead to happier and more productive, dedicated employees, a new global study found. Workers at companies that instituted a...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.