Sleep Disorders Common in Police, But Often Go Undetected
Findings Raise Issues of Public Safety
December 20, 2011 — Sleep disorders are common in police officers in the United States and Canada. They often go undetected, and therefore untreated, and this may have implications for individuals' personal physical and mental health as well as implications for public safety, new research suggests.
Of 4957 police officers, 2003 (40.4%) screened positive for at least 1 sleep disorder; most had not been diagnosed previously. The average age of the police officers was 38.5 years, and they had been on the job for an average of 12.7 years.
Sleep problems in police officers were associated with "adverse health, safety, and performance outcomes," Shantha M. Rajaratnam, PhD, of the Division of Sleep Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, and colleagues found.
The study is published in the December 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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