The SleepTrackTXT2 Randomized Trial With Air-medical Personnel

Not Applicable

Completed

Brief Summary: The overarching goal of this proposal is to address the MedEvac foundation priority of educational techniques and technologies and improve Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) safety by determining if overall sleep quality and intra-shift fatigue of HEMS clinicians can be improved with real-time assessment and intervention.

Aim 1: To determine the short-term impact of an enhanced SleepTrackTXT intervention on HEMS clinician fatigue reported in real-time during and at the end of shift work.

Aim 2: To determine the long-term impact of the SleepTrackTXT intervention on sleep quality and sleep health indicators including hours of sleep and recovery between shift work.

Detailed Description: The investigators will examine short term impact by examining self-reported fatigue captured at the start, during, and end of scheduled shifts.

The investigators will determine longer-term impact on sleep quality by comparing scores on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) taken at baseline and then again at 4 months.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

18 years of age and older
working clinically at a study site
currently working in shifts
has a smart phone and
willing to take part in a research study that requires the sending and receiving of multiple text messages daily over 4-months

Exclusion Criteria

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
SleepTrackTXT2	SleepTrackTXT2	Participants will receive text-message based assessment during shift work (intra-shift) and between shifts (inter-shift). Participants in the experimental group that report high levels of fatigue, sleepiness, or difficulty with concentration during shift work (intra-shift) will receive tailored text-messages promoting adoption of behaviors that can improve alertness. Participants will also receive a summary of their sleep debt once a week and suggestions for paying back sleep debt. Participants will also have access to a graphic summary of their sleep hours over previous 30-days.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Sleep Quality	4 months	Measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI); Scores range from 0 to 21. Higher scores indicate poorer sleep quality. Scores \>6 indicate poor sleep quality.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Sleepiness During Shiftwork	Every 4 hours up to 12 hours within a work shift	Single item measure of sleepiness taken at beginning, every 4-hours, and at the end of shifts. Scores range from 0 (Not at all) to 5 (Very much). Higher scores indicate more sleepiness.
Inter-Shift Recovery	4 months	The Occupational Fatigue Exhaustion Recovery Scale Inter-shift Recovery Subscale. Scores range from 0 to 100. Scores 50-100 imply moderate to high recovery.
Difficulty With Concentration During Shiftwork	Every 4 hours up to 12 hours at end of work shift	Single item measure of difficulty with concentration taken at beginning, every 4-hours, and at the end of shifts. Scores range from 0 (Not at all) to 5 (Very much). Higher scores indicate more difficulty with concentration.
Fatigue During Shiftwork	Every 4 hours up to 12 hours within work shifts	Single item measure of fatigue taken at beginning, every 4-hours, and at the end of shifts. Scores range from 0 (Not at all) to 5 (Very much); higher scores indicate more fatigue.