SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF INTERVENTIONAL PROGRAMS TO IMPROVE POOR SLEEP QUALITY AMONG HEALTHCARE WORKERS

Background: Poor sleep quality among healthcare workers are common due to their evolving work requirements. An effective interventional program is indicated to minimise the escalating medical costs to manage ill health related to poor sleep quality among them. This article aims to review the available evidence of various approaches to improve sleep quality among healthcare workers.  Materials and Methods: Electronic databases (PubMed, CINAHL, Medline, Science Direct) were used to perform systematic literature search using the keywords [“sleep training” OR “sleep hygiene education” OR “sleep quality intervention” OR “behavioural intervention” OR “interventional workshop”] AND [“healthcare workers” OR “nurses” OR “health professionals” OR “clinic workers”]. Other inclusion criteria were research articles, publications between 1 January 2009 and 31 October 2018, and availability of full text articles. Result: A total of 7 articles were included in this review. The intervention can be broadly classified into health education and behavioural therapy. Findings showed that sleep hygiene education alone was not effective; behavioural therapy had been added as a non-pharmacological modality for patients. Most literature recommended the combined sleep health education and behavioural approach due to the proven effectiveness to improve sleep quality. Sessions conducted by non-specialist occupational health staffs were equally effective too. Individualised sessions coupled with group meeting received better response from participants. Theory based interventions were commonly used in which both the strengths and limitations had been highlighted. Small sample size or relatively short observation period may have affected the result interpretation. Conclusion: Effective interventions to improve sleep quality should include combination of education and behavioural approaches, conducted with respective individual and group sessions, and utilising user-friendly study tools. Keywords: healthcare workers, interventional program, sleep quality