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. 2010 Dec;33(12):1623-31.
doi: 10.1093/sleep/33.12.1623.

Longitudinal study of sleep patterns of United States Military Academy cadets

Nita Lewis Miller  1 , Lawrence G Shattuck, Panagiotis Matsangas
Affiliations

Longitudinal study of sleep patterns of United States Military Academy cadets

Nita Lewis Miller et al. Sleep. 2010 Dec.

Abstract

Study objectives: The study provided an opportunity to observe sleep patterns in a college-age population attending the United States Military Academy.

Design: This 4-year longitudinal study investigated sleep patterns of cadets. A stratified sample of 80 cadets had sleep patterns monitored using actigraphy for 8 months: one month in both fall and spring academic semesters over a 4-year period.

Setting: Data were collected at the United States Military Academy, West Point, NY.

Participants: Participants were members of the class of 2007 (n˜1300) ranging in age from 17 to 22 when entering USMA.

Measurements and results: A sample of the class (n=80) wore wrist activity monitors and completed activity logs for one month in fall and spring academic semesters for the 4-year period. On average over the 4 years, cadets slept<5.5 h on school nights. Cadets napped extensively, perhaps in an attempt to compensate for chronic sleep debt. Cadets slept more during fall than spring semesters. Male and female cadet sleep patterns varied dramatically, with males consistently receiving less sleep than females (˜21 m for nighttime sleep and ˜23 m for daily sleep).

Conclusions: Cadet sleep at USMA is related to academic year, semester, season, sex, school day or weekend, and day of the week. These students suffer from chronic sleep debt. Restrictions imposed by the military academy limit the generalizability of the findings to other college age populations.

Keywords: Sleep deprivation; actigraphy; adolescent sleep patterns; college-age students; military education.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of nighttime sleep duration (for all participants over all four years, AY 2004–2007).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of daily sleep duration (all participants for AY 2005, 2006, and 2007).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Daily sleep by sex (F,M) and academic year (AY) for AY 2005, 2006 and 2007.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Nighttime sleep by sex (F,M) and academic year (AY).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Average nighttime and daily sleep by academic year (AY). The dotted line shows the average sleep during the night, while the solid line is the average level of daily (24 h) sleep.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Nighttime and daily sleep by semester. The dashed line shows the average sleep during the night, while the solid line is the average level of daily (24 h) sleep.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Difference in sleep amount for females (F) and males (M). Nighttime and daily sleep are based on AY 2005, 2006, and 2007.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Difference between nighttime and daily sleep for school and weekend nights. Nighttime sleep is based on AY 2004–2007; Daily sleep is based on AY 2005, 2006, and 2007.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Sex differences in daily sleep by season and day of the week (AY 2005, 2006, and 2007).
Figure 10
Figure 10
Average daily sleep for male participants (AY 2005, 2006, and 2007).
Figure 11
Figure 11
Average daily sleep for female participants (AY 2005, 2006, and 2007).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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