Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40140390›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2025

Understanding sleep health challenges of defence shift workers to design a digital, sleep and circadian management tool.

Prerna Varma, Lin Shen, Svetlana Postnova, Kylie King, Mark E Howard, Eugene Aidman, Shantha W M Rajaratnam, Tracey L Sletten

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Circadian nutrition and obesity: timing as a nutritional strategy.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2025
    Review
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Prerna VarmaSchool of Psychological Sciences and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3168, Australia.
Lin ShenSchool of Psychological Sciences and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3168, Australia.
Svetlana PostnovaSchool of Physics, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2050, Australia.
Kylie KingSchool of Psychological Sciences and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3168, Australia.
Mark E HowardSchool of Psychological Sciences and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3168, Australia.
Eugene AidmanDefence, Science and Technology Group, Department of Defence, Edinburgh, SA, 5111, Australia.
Shantha W M RajaratnamSchool of Psychological Sciences and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3168, Australia.
Tracey L SlettenSchool of Psychological Sciences and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3168, Australia. tracey.sletten@monash.edu.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Defence personnel need to be agile and responsive in their assessment of strategic and tactical tasks. Sleep and circadian disruptions, however, can compromise personnel's readiness. Digital health technologies have the potential to provide sleep and circadian health management advice but need to be designed with active involvement from stakeholders and communities. This study explored challenges with shift work in a cohort of defence personnel to identify end-user expectations for a sleep health smartphone application. Eight shift working Air Traffic Control personnel from the Australian Defence Force participated in 60-70-minute semi-structured online interviews. Informal discussions were also held with various defence stakeholders to determine requirements for an app. Defence personnel reported disruptions to their sleep, family, and social life due to environmental and operational circumstances, such as shift work, mental load, and unplanned schedules. They were highly receptive to a digital intervention and emphasised need for personalised support. Gamification, availability of the app via the defence forces, and high data security were recognised as key enablers. These insights should serve as theoretical foundation for further development, co-design, and testing of digital health tools in other shift worker cohorts, and to better examine and address the impacts of operational demands on their health and performance.

Indexed as

Circadian RhythmMilitary PersonnelMobile ApplicationsShift Work ScheduleSleepWork Schedule ToleranceAdultAustraliaFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedSmartphoneBehaviour changeIntervention developmentMilitary healthParticipatory approachesShift workSleep health support

Identifiers

PMID40140390
PMCPMC11947249

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.