LAUSR

Disparities are underrecognized factors for sleep health. Additionally, there are concerns about sleep health among Veterens with exposure to burn pit smoke. This study aimed to examine the association between sex, race, and ethnicity and self-reported insomnia and sleep apnea symptoms in Veterans and active duty personnel. Using items from the online health questionnaire of the VA/DoD Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry administered between April 2014 and August 2022 to 320,231 Veterans and active duty personnel (age 40.1±9.2 y, 11% female, 75% white), we examined the association between sociodemographic variables (sex, race, and ethnicity) and self-reported sleep complaints (insomnia, sleep duration, sleep apnea events and snoring) in separate logistic regression models. Female sex predicted higher odds of insomnia (OR 1.3), where as male sex predicted higher odds of sleep apnea events (OR 2.6) and snoring (OR 2.4), p’s<.0001. African American race predicted higher odds of sleep apnea events, snoring, insomnia and shorter sleep duration (ORs1.5-3.2, p’s<.0001). Hispanic ethnicity predicted higher odds of sleep apnea events, snoring, insomnia and shorter sleep duration (ORs 1.2-1.6, p’s<.0001). We observed a higher prevalence of self-reported sleep complaints among Black and Hispanic compared to White Veterans and active duty personnel who completed the burn pit registry. We also found a higher prevalence of insomnia in females compared to males, while snoring and sleep apnea events were more common in males compared to females. Future research will focus on sleep health dispartities of objective sleep data extracted from polysomnography reports in the Veteran Affairs electronic medical records in Veterans on the burn pit registry. This work is supported by the Department of Veteran Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Office of Research and Development, Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety (CIN 13-413); Michael E DeBakey VAMC Bridge Grant (PI: Nowakowski); and VA Airborne Hazards and Burn Pit Center of Excellence Pilot Grant (PI:Nowakowski).