A-144 Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Sleep Disturbances in Military Service Members as Predictors of Days Missed from Duty

Objective Duty-limiting pain impacts military readiness. Conditions such as mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), stress-related disorders (Acute Stress Disorder (ASD)/PTSD), depression, anxiety and sleep disturbance occur frequently among military service members and can be associated with pain-related time off from duty. The purpose of this study was to explore which of these conditions best predict time off duty. Method Time off duty was categorized into low (0–3 days), medium (3–30 days) and high (more than 30 days). After excluding participants undergoing a Medical Evaluation Board (MEB) or with potentially invalid symptom reporting, 364 military service members were included. An ordinal regression analysis was conducted with presence or absence of mTBI, ASD/PTSD, depression/anxiety and sleep disturbance as predictors. Results The regression model was significant (χ2 = 21.93, p < .001), with mTBI status and sleep disturbance emerging as significant predictors of pain-related time off duty. Those with a history of mTBI were five times more likely to miss duty days than those without mTBI (Odds Ratio (OR) = 5.09 [p = .04]). Presence of ongoing sleep disturbance conveyed two times the risk of more missed duty (OR = 2.09 [p = .04]). Conclusion This suggests that treating mTBI and sleep disturbances in military service members can reduce pain-related absenteeism and consequently improve military readiness.