Night shift worker sleep habits and demand for fatigue management features in a mobile application

Abstract Background Digital health interventions like a sleep hygiene mobile application (app) designed specifically for night shift workers, can help improve health and on-the-job safety. Successful app development should consider user experience and economic demand in addition to sleep biology. This study reports the results of a market survey which aims to assess interest in a hypothetical sleep hygiene app designed for night shift workers. Methods N = 97 night shift workers, predominantly from the healthcare industry (n = 52), completed an anonymous online survey about their sleep habits, fatigue, technology use, perceived importance of app features, preferred pricing models, and level of comfort sharing data with employers. Results Respondents reported sleeping less than 7 hours on average with frequent sleep and fatigue issues in relation to their working schedules. Respondents ranked the ability of a sleep hygiene app to sync with their work schedule as the most important app feature. Slightly under half of respondents (n = 48) preferred a “free with ads” pricing model to one-time or recurring fees. n = 84 respondents were interested in using a fatigue management app; n = 93 would either be as interested or more interested if the app was paid for by their employer. The majority of respondents (n = 78) were either neutral or comfortable with sharing sleep data with their employers. Conclusions Night shift workers experience sleep problems and fatigue at work. Night shift workers would prefer a sleep hygiene app that takes their schedules into account and would be more likely to use an app that is either free with ads or paid for by their employer.