Work

0875 Self-Reported Sleep Indices in Veterans Exposed to Deleted Uranium

Year: 2023

Type: conference-abstract

Abstract: Introduction During Gulf War I, a group of veterans sustained exposure to deplete uranium (DU) through a series of “friendly fire” incidents. This resulted in both inhalational and traumatic injuries, with a subset having retained fragments and ongoing systemic exposure to DU. These veterans have undergone biennial surveillance assessments to monitor for DU-related health effects. While effects of DU on bones and kidneys have been consistently shown, less is understood about the effect of DU on sleep. In rat models, exposure to DU affected sleep architecture by increasing both sleep fragmentation and quantity of REM sleep. We therefore sought to characterize the effect of DU on self-reported sleep complaints among this unique veteran cohort. Methods Of a dynamic cohort of 81 DU-exposed veterans, 37 completed medical history, exposure, and sleep questionnaires and 24-hour urine uranium collections. Responses on the sleep questionnaires -which included subjective assessment of sleep quality and quantity as well as an Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) score – were compared in veterans with elevated (>0.1 mcg U/g creatinine) vs low urine uranium (uU). Results The 37 veterans assessed were all male, mostly white, and had a mean age of 54 ± 2.8 years. 10 were identified as having elevated urine DU levels. The mean ESS score for the group overall was in the pathologic range (13 ± 4) and did not differ significantly between the high and low uU groups. The most frequent complaints in the group overall were of difficulty falling asleep, awakening frequently throughout the night, restless sleep, and frequent tossing and turning. Among all self-reported sleep indices, there were no significant differences among the two groups. Conclusion In this group of DU-exposed veterans, excessive daytime sleepiness and several other sleep complaints were observed. Although there were no differences in the frequency or severity of self-reported sleep indices among this group of DU-exposed veterans, the group was overall pathologically sleepy. More work is needed to further characterize the possible impact of DU exposure on sleep. Support (if any) Funded by the US Department of Veterans Affairs and supported by the University of Maryland General Clinical Research Center.

Source: SLEEP

DOI: 10.1093/sleep/zsad077.0875