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. 2018 Jul 11;18(1):853.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-018-5781-2.

Self-reported health behaviors, including sleep, correlate with doctor-informed medical conditions: data from the 2011 Health Related Behaviors Survey of U.S. Active Duty Military Personnel

Adela Hruby  1   2 , Harris R Lieberman  1 , Tracey J Smith  3
Affiliations

Self-reported health behaviors, including sleep, correlate with doctor-informed medical conditions: data from the 2011 Health Related Behaviors Survey of U.S. Active Duty Military Personnel

Adela Hruby et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Health behaviors and cardiometabolic disease risk factors may differ between military and civilian populations; therefore, in U.S. active duty military personnel, we assessed relationships between demographic characteristics, self-reported health behaviors, and doctor-informed medical conditions.

Methods: Data were self-reported by 27,034 active duty military and Coast Guard personnel who responded to the 2011 Department of Defense Health Related Behaviors Survey. Multivariate linear and logistic regressions were used to estimate cross-sectional associations between (1) demographic characteristics (age, sex, service branch, marital status, children, race/ethnicity, pay grade) and self-reported behaviors (exercise, diet, smoking, alcohol, sleep); (2) demographic characteristics and doctor-informed medical conditions (hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, low high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, hyperglycemia) and overweight/obesity; and (3) behaviors and doctor-informed medical conditions.

Results: Among respondents (age 29.9 ± 0.1 years, 14.7% female), females reported higher intake than men of fruit, vegetables, and dairy; those with higher education reported higher intakes of whole grains; those currently married and/or residing with children reported higher intake of starches. Older age and female sex were associated with higher odds (ORs 1.25 to 12.54 versus the youngest age group) of overweight/obesity. Older age and female sex were also associated with lower odds (ORs 0.29 to 0.65 versus male sex) of doctor-informed medical conditions, except for blood glucose, for which females had higher odds. Those currently married had higher odds of high cholesterol and overweight/obesity, and separated/divorced/widowed respondents had higher odds of high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Short sleep duration (< 5 versus 7-8 h/night) was associated with higher odds (ORs 1.36to 2.22) of any given doctor-informed medical condition. Strength training was associated with lower probability of high cholesterol, high triglycerides, and low HDL, and higher probability of overweight/obesity. Dietary factors were variably associated with doctor-informed medical conditions and overweight/obesity.

Conclusions: This study observed pronounced associations between health behaviors-especially sleep-and medical conditions, thus adding to evidence that sleep is a critical, potentially modifiable behavior within this population. When possible, adequate sleep should continue to be promoted as an important part of overall health and wellness throughout the military community.

Keywords: Air force; Army; Cardiometabolic risk; Coast guard; Exercise; Marine corps; Navy; Sleep; Survey.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The 2011 HRBS was conducted by ICF International under advisement of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Tricare Management Activity (TMA; now Defense Health Agency), and the USCG [15]. Primary data collection was approved by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs/TRICARE Management Activity (OASD(HA)/TMA), Human Research Protection Office. Informed consent was required and obtained at the beginning of the HRBS, and responses were anonymous. For the present secondary data analyses, we obtained a de-identified data file from TMA through a data use agreement. Because the data were previously collected and de-identified, the protocol for the present study was deemed exempt (not human subject research) by both the US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (Natick, MA) and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs/TRICARE Management Activity (OASD(HA)/TMA), Human Research Protection Office.

Consent for publication

Not applicable (no individual-level data included).

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Odds of doctor-informed medical conditions according to health behaviors. Forest plot of odds of having self-reported high blood pressure (a), cholesterol (b), triglycerides (c), blood glucose (d), low high-density lipoprotein [HDL] cholesterol (e), or being overweight/obese (f) by health behaviors. Models were adjusted for all behaviors simultaneously, sociodemographic characteristics (age, sex, service branch, education, race/ethnicity, marital status, children living with the respondent, and pay grade), current enrollment in a weight-loss program, history of weight loss, and history of deployment. Odds ratios are given by the enclosed squares; 95% confidence intervals are given by the bars. For related data, see Additional file 1: Table S4
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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