Study of the sleep health of war victims in Ukraine using a digital tool

doi:10.26565/2312-5675-2023-21-04

Lahutina Sofiia Bogomolets National Medical University http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8908-827X

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26565/2312-5675-2023-21-04

Keywords: Keywords: war, sleep health, PTSD, mental health, stress, digital interventions, chatbot

Abstract

Introduction. The increased level of stress due to psychological traumatization of the population negatively affects the quality of sleep. In turn, a violation of the quality of sleep negatively affects psychological functioning and mental health. Traditional methods of sleep health correction cannot provide proper psychocorrection and psychoprophylaxis of stress-related conditions. Digital tools can become an effective alternative in this situation.

Methods. The research was conducted on the basis of the "Friend" psychological first aid chatbot in the Telegram messenger. Data processing was carried out using Jamovi software.

The results. Indicators of sleep quality of the respondents: 49.9% had a moderate level of sleep problems, 31% - subthreshold problems, and 13% - severe problems. More than half of users chose the sleep branch in the chatbot, which indicates a high level of interest in sleep health issues, the "Routine" category was the most visited. The analysis of the questions of the ISI questionnaire showed that the questions related to satisfaction with the quality of sleep are especially relevant for users. Users with severe sleep problems turned to the chatbot more often. Understanding the importance of sleep can influence the specifics of using a chatbot.

Conclusions. The results of our study highlight the peculiarities of the sleep health of the war-affected population. Digital interventions can be an effective and timely solution to make psychological care accessible and convenient. There is a need to investigate the level of user engagement with digital tools and the aspects that influence it.

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