Sleep well and live well: Impact of sleep hygiene intervention on sleep duration in a rural community: A randomized controlled trial (THE SWELL STUDY).

INTRODUCTION: Sleep is a key component of a healthy lifestyle and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and prevention recommends that adults get at least 7 hours of sleep each night. Within the United States, West Virginia is among the most sleep-deprived states with 42% of the population reporting insufficient sleep per the CDC. Sleep insufficiency in rural populations is linked to disparities in health and accessibility to health care services. The study evaluated the impact of sleep hygiene (SH) education on sleep duration and quality. METHODS: A 12-week randomized controlled trial of participants residing in Harrison County, WV. Baseline data included the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale, and sleep duration as recorded by a sleep wearable. The intervention included an SH video on weeks 3 and 5. The control arm did not receive intervention but were allowed to cross over and receive intervention at week 8. RESULTS: A total of 100 participants (61 females) were recruited from the community. No changes in sleep duration were observed in intention to treat analysis between Arm 1 and Arm 2 at 7 weeks. In the treatment analysis, the compliant cohort demonstrated a significant increase of 31 minutes mean sleep duration (P = .01) as well as an improvement in the PSQI (6.30 to 5.68 by week 12, P = .05). CONCLUSION: The study demonstrates that the introduction of a modest SH intervention may have a beneficial effect on the duration and quality of sleep in a rural community. CLINICALTRIALS: gov Identifier: NCT04849572.