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Sleepful Drive

A truck driver yawning while driving

During the SHIFT study – a programme designed to support lorry drivers to take steps to achieving a healthy lifestyle – widespread prevalence of short sleep duration, and poor sleep quality, in HGV drivers was discovered. Many of the occupational demands associated with commercial driving, like long and unpredictable working hours and irregular shift patterns, can disturb sleep, and encourage unhealthy lifestyles.

Commercial drivers also tend to eat a less healthy diet, and have low levels of physical activity. These behaviours, coupled with insufficient and disrupted sleep, directly influence health, with drivers being more likely to be overweight/obese, which in turn increases their risk of developing heart disease, diabetes and other chronic diseases. Commercial drivers’ consistently reported short, disrupted and inadequate sleep also leads to increased feelings of sleepiness and fatigue when driving. These risks can be reversed by increasing the duration of sleep.       

A team of sleep scientists, health and motivational experts was put together to devise a research project aimed at tackling short and poor sleep in commercial drivers. The project was funded by the Medical Research Council, and the project team was led by Dr Iuliana Hartescu, a sleep expert from Loughborough University. The aim of this project was to co-develop (with drivers and employers) a practical and effective intervention to improve the sleep quality of commercial drivers. The intervention would make an important contribution to public safety and it would also improve the general health of commercial drivers.

Log in screen of Sleepful Drive

Sleepful Drive was developed as a sleep improvement programme which can be delivered as a phone/tablet app. The app was developed in collaboration with commercial drivers, transport managers, and health and safety managers.

Welcome screen on Sleepful Drive app

Sleepful Drive offers advice and strategies specific to the commercial drivers’ work environment, and it is designed to engage the user and encourage the adoption of the advice offered. The programme’s content is based on our extensive research into cognitive and behavioural techniques for improving sleep, and reflect the team’s expertise in developing digital sleep-management programmes.

The app includes:

  • 10 Steps offering sleep-related information, advice and support
  • A self-completion sleep diary
  • A self-completion Fatigue Tracker
  • A “Nap-Mate” – when and how long to nap
  • A confidential thought diary
  • Quiz questions

Objectives screen on Sleepful Drive app. The example objectives on screen are "I would like to wake up less often during me sleep" and "I would like to reduce the time it takes me to fall asleep."

The 10 programme steps include:

  • STEP 1 An automated personal sleep profile from self-scoring assessments
  • STEP 2 Setting objectives
  • STEP 3 Tracking your sleep
  • STEP 4 Sleep – a quick user guide
  • STEP 5 Sleep hygiene: routine management of sleep

The quiz screen on Sleepful Drive app.
  • STEP 6 Getting to sleep
  • STEP 7 Relaxation MP3
  • STEP 8 Staying asleep
  • STEP 9 Managing tiredness on the road
  • STEP 10 Driving through the Night

Feasibility study of Sleepful Drive

After the development phase, Sleepful Drive was tested with 48 HGV drivers, to establish the acceptability, accessibility, practicality and demand for the app, and obtain early indicators of effectiveness. Participants used the app for a range of 4-12 weeks, with an average of 6.1 weeks.

Before and after results indicated:

  • Significant improvement in average sleep duration, with an average gain of 26min sleep/night.
  • 40% of drivers reported sleep increased by at least 1h/night
  • Significant positive increase in sleep quality, with 53.3% of sample reporting improved sleep quality post-intervention
  • There were positive correlations between alertness and sleep duration at follow-up: independent of health, longer sleep lead to greater alertness
  • Reductions in anxiety post intervention
  • Improvement in self-rated health status

Results from the app presented in the graphs below, recording drivers’ total sleep duration and daytime alertness, throughout the trial, show an increase in sleep duration, and an increase in daytime alertness.

Total sleep time (as recorded in Sleepful Drive app) from baseline (day 0 – start of intervention) to the end of intervention (day 50) showing an increase in sleep time across the duration of the intervention.

Total sleep time (as recorded in Sleepful Drive app) from baseline (day 0 – start of intervention) to the end of intervention (day 50)

Daytime alertness (as recorded in Sleepful Drive app) from baseline (day 0 – start of intervention) to the end of intervention (day 50) showing an increase in daytime alertness across the duration of the intervention.

Daytime alertness (as recorded in Sleepful Drive app) from baseline (day 0 – start of intervention) to the end of intervention (day 50)

A large trial is now planned to test the effectiveness of Sleepful Drive in extending sleep duration in HGV drivers, and thus leading to longer-term weight loss.