Female veterans have sleep issues at a higher rate than female civilians and are affected by many stress-related conditions that make sleep worse. As well, women carry 60% of society’s burden of caregiving, often looking after children along with sick family members or spouses. A survey of nearly 1,500 female veterans compared sleep troubles and related effects between those who are caregivers (those who provide unpaid care for another person) and those who are not.1 Another survey found that many female veterans are also at high risk for sleep apnea—a known risk factor for heart disease—but that most were undiagnosed.2
