Risk of type II diabetes and hypertension associated with chronic insomnia among active component, U.S. Armed Forces, 1998-2013

Chronic insomnia is a common clinical complaint and its incidence in both U.S. military and civilian populations has increased. Several studies have evaluated the association between chronic insomnia and the development of other chronic diseases. This study estimates the incidence of chronic insomnia. In addition, this report examines the association between both hypertension and type II diabetes and chronic insomnia in active component military members. The Defense Medical Surveillance System was used to identify a cohort of individuals with chronic insomnia between 1998 and 2013 and to match them by age and gender with a cohort without insomnia. During 1998-2013, there were 205,740 incident cases of chronic insomnia among active component service members with an overall rate of 90.3 per 10,000 person-years. Individuals in the chronic insomnia cohort were at higher risk for type II diabetes (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 2.17 [95% CI, 1.75-2.69]) and hypertension (adjusted HR, 2.00 [95% CI, 1.85-2.16]). Sleep hygiene education along with evaluation and treatment of persistent symptoms are of public health importance in active duty service members.