Randomized Experiment of Sleep Technology

February 1, 2021 updated by: Kelly Glazer Baron, University of Utah

Randomized Experiment of Sleep Technology Study

Short sleep duration is highly prevalent and linked to negative mental and physical health consequences, including increased cardiovascular disease risk [1]. According to data from the National Health Interview Survey, 70.1 million U.S. adults (29.2%) sleep <6 hours per 24 hour period [2]. These statistics are a stark contrast to recommendations made by a recent consensus panel of sleep experts that concluded "at least 7 hours" is the amount of sleep needed for health and performance among adults [3]. Therefore, a high number of U.S. adults could benefit from extending sleep duration. Several small experiments have demonstrated the benefits of short-term sleep extension [4-8]. However, these studies are limited by extending sleep as a temporary experimental manipulation rather than a longer-term behavioral intervention. To deliver sleep extension interventions, wearable sleep trackers may be useful, particularly given the rapid uptake among consumers (+500% in 3 years) [9]. We have developed a novel technology-assisted behavioral sleep extension intervention that employs four elements -- a wearable sleep tracker, didactic content, an interactive smartphone feature and brief telephone counseling. User testing supports feasibility of extending sleep, but little is known about the effects of differing types of technology interventions on sleep. Therefore, the goal of this study is to examine the differences between technology sleep extension interventions and sleep duration.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

Study Design - Intervention

  • Web or phone prescreening: Participants will first complete a brief online screening to determine initial eligibility criteria (self-report of medical and psychiatric conditions, sleep disorders). Individuals who are potentially eligible will be sent an Actiwatch via FedEx, along with training instructions. Participants will wear the Actiwatch for a 7-day prescreening assessment. Research staff will receive verbal consent for this screening procedure and will go over instructions over the phone to ensure participants understand how to use this device.
  • Study Visits: Visit 1- Screening assessment: Participants will attend a one hour laboratory visit that will include consent procedures, standardized measurements of height, weight, waist and hip circumference, and blood pressure. Participants will complete baseline study questionnaires.
  • Enrollment: During visit 1, staff will review eligibility. Participants will be informed at the end of visit one of their eligibility. If the participant is eligible, they will receive a verbal and written instructions and informing them of their study group assignment. If they are not eligible, a payment will be sent via check.
  • Randomization: Participants will be randomized to 4 study groups using sealed envelopes with assignments determined via a random number generator.
  • Study Conditions: Participants will be randomly assigned to 1 of 4 study groups.
  • Study group 1: Participants will receive the telephone coaching and wear the Fitbit device week 1 through week 6.
  • Study group 2: Participants will receive the telephone coaching only.
  • Study group 3: Participants will wear the Fitbit device week 1 through week 6 study but will not receive telephone coaching.
  • Study group 4: Control group. Participants will not receive telephone coaching nor will they wear the Fitbit device. They will be instructed to keep their sleep schedule consistent.

Arms and Interventions -

  • The intervention will be delivered via smartphone and adherence will be facilitated by telephone coaching. Participants will receive weekly "lessons", which are content that is emailed each week as part of the program. In study groups 1 and 3, participants will wear a Fitbit sleep tracking monitor for the duration of the intervention. Coaches will be able to log in and see participants' data to help encourage them to meet their sleep goals.
  • Weekly lesson content will be delivered via email (e.g. mail chimp).
  • Telephone coaching: Participants in study groups 1 and 2 will be assigned to a sleep coach who will monitor their progress during the study and provide weekly telephone coaching sessions related to their sleep-related goals. The coaches will establish legitimacy by their knowledge of sleep and basic counseling principles. They will establish goals with the participants based on the participants' values and beliefs, including the particular sleep related goals and also usage goals, (e.g., number of log-ins completed per week). Performance monitoring will be completed through an online dashboard visible to the coaches (Fitbit web log in). The first coaching session is a 20 min engagement session, which includes introductions, rational for the program, clarifying roles of the coach and the participants' goals for the program. Coaches (directed by Dr. Baron) will provide feedback to the participant based on Fitbit and sleep diary data. For weeks 2-6, the coach and participant will also have weekly brief (5-10 min) follow-up support calls to troubleshoot any problems with the application or Fitbit, review progress, problem solve barriers to progress, and set goals for the following week. In-between sessions, the coaches will be available, mostly over email, to troubleshoot any problems with the content or Fitbit. Frequency of text, phone, and email communication will be recorded.
  • Control group: Participants assigned to the no-treatment wait list control condition will be told they were assigned to the wait list group, and therefore eligible to receive the intervention components at the end of the study. At the end of the final session, they will receive a Fitbit wearable fitness tracker and emails with the 6 didactic lessons.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

45

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Utah
      • Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, 84108
        • Family and Preventive Medicine

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

25 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. BMI >25 kg/m2
  2. Short sleep duration (<6.5 hrs of sleep per night, on average)

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. High risk or presence of restless legs syndrome or insomnia as assessed by the screening questionnaires,
  2. History of cognitive or neurological disorders;
  3. Presence of any major psychiatric disorder, current alcohol or substance abuse;
  4. Unstable or serious medical illness;
  5. Shift work or travel over 2 time zones in the past 2 months,
  6. Inability to read and write English,
  7. Pregnancy or desire to become pregnant during the study period,
  8. Significant environmental factors disturbing sleep (e.g. awakenings >4 per week due to caregiving responsibilities),
  9. >8 hours in bed on average,
  10. engaged in special diet for weight loss (e.g., diet post weight loss surgery),
  11. use of hypnotics within the past three months.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Fitbit + Coaching
Fitbit + coaching will receive both the fitbit and coaching interventions.
This intervention is a combination of the coaching and fitbit interventions
Active Comparator: Coaching
Coaching group will receive weekly remote coaching lessons by phone email or text for 1-6 weeks. They will also receive a weekly email lesson for 1-6 weeks on things such as basics of sleep, enhancing sleep environment and managing stress.

Coaching Participants who are assigned coaching group will receive telephone coaching. Coaches follow a guide developed by Kelly Glazer Baron, Jennifer Duffecy, Kathryn Reid, and Lauren Caccamo. The first session is an approximately 30 minute engagement session, with the purpose of "getting to know" the participant to increase likelihood for participation. The end goal is to have participants express Desire, Ability, Reason, Need, Can (DARN-C) to make changes in sleep). The remainder calls (week 2-6) are follow-up calls lasting about 5 minutes. The goal of these calls is to keep participants motivated and address any issues with the Fitbit hard or software.

Participants will also receive weekly email lessons to their personal email address for 1-6 weeks.

Active Comparator: Fitbit
Fitbit group will receive a Fitbit and are asked to monitor their sleep over the smartphone application for 1-6 weeks.
Fitbit Participants in the fitbit group will receive a Fitbit Charge 3 black, and asked to wear it for 1-6 weeks. Participants will monitor their sleep through the sleep section in the Fitbit app on the smartphone. Participants will be provided login information so that researchers can access this data and asked to keep Bluetooth on. After week 6, participants can choose to continue to wear the device for the duration of the study (12 weeks). Though wear at weeks 7-12 is not required, researchers will still use any data that was collected from the fitbit during that time. At the completion of their participation, researchers retain the login information and the device is switched to a personal login of the participants choice.
No Intervention: Self-management
Self-management participants will be given some information of improving sleep but asked to keep their same schedule. Once their participation concludes, they will be given the opportunity to receive a fitbit and coaching if they so choose.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Sleep Duration (Assess changes in sleep quality)
Time Frame: time points at visit 1 (week 1), visit 2 (week 6) and visit 3 (week 12)
Assess changes in sleep quality:Using the Philips Respironics Actiwatch (scoring completed using Philips Actiware 6), sleep duration and sleep quality will be assessed. Measures include bed/wake time, total time in bed, total sleep time, onset latency, sleep efficiency, number of awakenings and minutes awake during the night, or Wake After Sleep Onset (WASO). White, red, green and blue light will be measured using the device but only white light will be used in the assessment.
time points at visit 1 (week 1), visit 2 (week 6) and visit 3 (week 12)
Sleep Duration
Time Frame: time points at visit 1 (week 1), visit 2 (week 6) and visit 3 (week 12)
Assesses changes in daytime sleepiness: Using questionnaires Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Sleep-Related Impairment (2008-2012 PROMIS Health Organization and PROMIS Cooperative Group)
time points at visit 1 (week 1), visit 2 (week 6) and visit 3 (week 12)
Sleep Duration
Time Frame: time points at visit 1 (week 1), visit 2 (week 6) and visit 3 (week 12)
Assesses changes in daytime sleepiness: Munich Chronotype Questionnaire (Chronotype(en) 2008 Till Roenneberg, & Martha Merrow, LMU Munich) , daytime sleepiness and changes over the three time points will be assessed.
time points at visit 1 (week 1), visit 2 (week 6) and visit 3 (week 12)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

January 16, 2019

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 27, 2020

Study Completion (Actual)

April 27, 2020

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 10, 2019

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 27, 2020

First Posted (Actual)

January 29, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 4, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 1, 2021

Last Verified

February 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 00117330

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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