Nocturnal sentry duty and cardiometabolic characteristics in armed forces personnel

BACKGROUND Sleep deprivation can lead to increased body weight and blood pressure(BP),but the latent effects of partial sleep deprivation related to required night sentry duties within a short-term period on cardiometabolic characteristic changes in military personnel are unclear.AIM To investigate the association between night sentry duty frequency in the past 3 months and cardiometabolic characteristics in armed forces personnel.METHODS A total of 867 armed forces personnel who were aged 18-39 years and did not take any antihypertensive medications in Taiwan in 2020 were included.The frequency of night sentry duty was self-reported via a questionnaire(average number of night sentry shifts per month for the past 3 months).Hemodynamic status was assessed via the resting BP and pulse rate(PR).Cardiometabolic risk factors were defined according to the International Diabetes Federation criteria.Multivariable linear regression analyses of the associations between night sentry duties and PR,BP,and other metabolic syndrome(MetS)marker levels were performed,with adjustments for age,sex,substance use,body mass index and aerobic fitness.Multiple logistic regression analysis was carried out to determine the associations between night sentry duties and the prevalence of each MetS feature.