Officers with positive disorder are also more likely to fatigue, depression or anxiety disorders. And over the next two years, these officers do more administrative errors, security breaches and more vulnerable to sleep in the car.
"In general we have a cultural attitude that sleep is for the weak. When I was in an environment where the signs of weakness would be discouraging, there is social pressure not to overcome sleep disorders or ignore it," said Dr. Michael Grandner of the Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, as reported by Reuters on Wednesday (21/12/2011)
In a study published the Journal of the American Medical Association, there are nearly 5,000 police officers were surveyed regarding sleep disorders and other health topics.
The officers are from Philadelphia and Massachusetts state police and U.S. police and other Canadians. The officers were on average aged 38-39 years and most have been on the force for over ten years.
Dr. Charles Czeisler of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and colleagues found that 40 percent of the officers who tested positive have the at least one sleep disorder. The most commonly experienced is sleep apnea that affects one third of the policeman who examined, followed by insomnia in moderate or severe degree, and disruption of work consisting of drowsiness and insomnia due to work at night.
Officers who have sleep disorders more than twice as likely to experience depression, emotional exhaustion, and anxiety disorders compared to officers who have a healthy sleep.
At follow-up questionnaire two years later, the officer who sleep deprivation was also 40-60 percent more likely to create serious administrative errors, falling asleep while driving, make mistakes due to fatigue, or threaten the safety during work. Officers who sleep less more and more citizens to report complaints often exhibit uncontrolled anger against the suspects or citizens.
Researchers noted that being overweight can increase risk of sleep apnea. Nearly 80 percent of officers surveyed are the officers who were overweight or obese.
"People who sleep less have a deficiency in the ability to make good decisions, to respond effectively, moving vehicles, and almost anything disturbed," said Bryan Vila, criminal justice professor who studies sleep and performance of police at Washington State University but did not involved in this study.
The researchers said the police department could do more to ensure that officers who have sleep disorders receive appropriate treatment as a sleep aid, treatment or change in work schedule.
Sleep apnea can be treated with sleep aids and masks are used at night. Behavioral therapy is often the first step of treatment for patients with insomnia. To cop with shift work disorder, cutting overtime hours will be able to help.
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