Sleep duration and musculoskeletal injury incidence in physically active men and women: A study of U.S. Army Special Operation Forces soldiers

Abstract

PurposeIn physically demanding occupations or athletic populations, sleep has been shown to be an important factor for both performance and recovery. However, evidence is limited on sleep duration and its association with musculoskeletal injury risk in physically active populations. Therefore, the purpose of this analysis was to evaluate the relationship between sleep duration and musculoskeletal injury incidence in a population of physically active men and women. MethodsData were collected via electronic survey and analyzed for 7,576 soldiers from the United States Army Special Operations Command. ResultsThis population was mostly men (95%) ≤ 35 years old (70%). The incidence of musculoskeletal injury was 53% over the twelve months before survey administration. After adjusting for other covariates, soldiers who slept ≤ 4 hours were 2.35 (95% CI: 1.89-2.93, p <0.01) times more likely to experience a musculoskeletal injury compared with those who slept eight ≥ 8 hours. When stratified by age (≤ 35 years, > 35 years), older men were found to have significantly higher risk of a musculoskeletal injury than their younger counterparts across all sleep duration groups. ConclusionsThese findings suggest that sleep duration may be inversely related to risk of musculoskeletal injury. It is possible that interventions targeted at sleep may have a positive impact on prevention of musculoskeletal injuries within physically active populations.