Changes in sleep architecture in German Armed Forces personnel with posttraumatic stress disorder compared with depressed and healthy control subjects.

Background: This study compares the sleep architecture of patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with that of both patients with depression and subjects with no mental disorder.

Method: 45 German armed forces personnel with PTSD, 72 German armed forces personnel with depression and 24 healthy control subjects underwent 24-hour polysomnography. The effects of group membership, medication and the statistical interaction of group and medication were analysed for the following variables: sleep onset latency, REM sleep latency, slow-wave sleep and REM sleep percentages.