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Published on: August 8, 2019
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Chronicity of sleep restriction during Army basic military training
Penelope Larsen1, Jace R Drain2, Neil Gibson1
1Centre for Medical and Exercise Physiology, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Australia.
Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport
|March 12, 2022
Summary
Recruits experience chronic sleep restriction during basic military training (BMT), with demands worsening sleep quality. Strategies like napping are needed to reduce performance detriments.
Area of Science:
- Sleep Science
- Military Medicine
- Human Performance
Background:
- Basic Military Training (BMT) imposes significant physiological and psychological stress.
- Understanding sleep patterns during BMT is crucial for recruit well-being and performance.
- Pre-existing sleep quality may influence adaptation to training demands.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the chronicity and variability of sleep patterns and restriction in recruits during BMT.
- To identify subjective sleep quality in young adult recruits before entering BMT.
- To analyze how different training phases affect sleep.
Main Methods:
- Prospective observational study involving 57 Army recruits over 12 weeks of BMT.
- Actigraphy used for objective sleep monitoring.
- Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) assessed pre-BMT subjective sleep quality.
- Mixed-effects models analyzed sleep duration, restriction, and quality across training phases.
Main Results:
- All recruits experienced sub-optimal sleep; 42% faced sleep restriction for ≥2 weeks.
- Sleep duration and efficiency significantly decreased during the Field phase.
- Sleep latency, wake after sleep onset, and fragmentation increased during the Field phase.
- Pre-BMT sleep was longer and more efficient, with a more variable schedule compared to BMT.
Conclusions:
- Sub-optimal sleep and sleep restriction are chronic issues during BMT.
- Increased training demands exacerbate sleep disruption.
- Developing sleep strategies (e.g., napping, routines) is essential to mitigate performance decrements and negative outcomes.
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