Sleep deprivation is the uninterrupted state of wakefulness, occurring when inadequate sleep leads to a decrease in performance and alertness, possibly reaching a level of deterioration with harmful health effects. The aim of this research wasto systematize the knowledge produced about the effect of sleep deprivation on decision making in the military. The systematic literature review was the method chosen, following the steps recommended by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyzes (PRISMA).

The search was carried out on the following databases:

PubMed; Scopus; SciELO; Cochrane library and Web of Science. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were previously defined for the selection of the found material. A total of 14 articles, most of them with a low risk of bias, were selected to compose the research results. The themes explored in these articles dealt with the loss of confidence, moral relativization, teamwork, drop-in cognitive levels, and changes in brain electrical activity in sleep deprivation. The research demonstrated significant damage to decision-making under sleep restriction or deprivation regarding the investigated topics, presenting few resources capable of minimizing these effects. There is an urge to investigate the role of physical exercise in this process and, especially, in Brazilian samples.