Association Between Self-Reported Sleep Quality and Musculoskeletal Injury in Male Army Rangers

Bradley M Ritland; Jacob A Naylor; Alexxa F Bessey; Tina M Burke; Julie M Hughes; Stephen A Foulis; Walter J Sowden; Janna Mantua

doi:10.1093/milmed/usab488

Association Between Self-Reported Sleep Quality and Musculoskeletal Injury in Male Army Rangers

Mil Med. 2021 Dec 11:usab488. doi: 10.1093/milmed/usab488. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Bradley M Ritland¹, Jacob A Naylor², Alexxa F Bessey³, Tina M Burke³, Julie M Hughes¹, Stephen A Foulis¹, Walter J Sowden^{3

4}, Janna Mantua³

Affiliations

¹ Military Performance Division, United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Natick, MA 01760, USA.
² 2d Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA 98433, USA.
³ Behavior Biology Branch, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA.
⁴ Department of Behavioral Health, Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, HI 96859, USA.

PMID: 34893863
DOI: 10.1093/milmed/usab488

Abstract

Introduction: Musculoskeletal injuries and insufficient sleep are common among U.S. Army Rangers. There has been limited research into whether indices of sleep differ between injured and uninjured Rangers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between self-reported sleep and musculoskeletal injury in Rangers.

Materials and methods: A total of 82 Army Rangers (male, 25.4 ± 4.0 years) were asked if they currently have any musculoskeletal injuries; completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), and the Stanford Sleepiness Scale; and were asked about their average sleep quality/sleep duration over the preceding week. Rangers were then dichotomized into groups, one that reported a current musculoskeletal injury and another that did not.

Results: The reported musculoskeletal injury prevalence was 15.9% (n = 13). The Rangers that reported an injury, compared to those that did not, had a significantly higher Global PSQI score (6.7 ± 3.7 versus 4.5 ± 2.7, P = .012) and ISI score (10.9 ± 3.7 versus 7.2 ± 4.1, P = .003), both indicative of poorer sleep. The group reporting an injury rated their average sleep quality over the preceding week significantly lower compared to those that did not report an injury (50.8 ± 17.5 versus 68.9 ± 18.3, P = .001). There was no significant group difference in the average nightly sleep duration (6.1 ± 1.0 hours versus 6.5 ± 0.9 hours, P = .099).

Conclusion: In this cohort of male Army Rangers, In this cohort of male Army Rangers, those with a musculoskeletal injury reported poorer sleep quality than uninjured Rangers. Sleep duration was not associated with reported injuries; however, both the injured group and uninjured group averaged less than the recommended amounts of sleep. Further investigation into the relationship between musculoskeletal injury and sleep in military personnel is warranted.

Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States 2021. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

Grants and funding

U.S. Army