Сharacteristics of sleep disorders in persons working in conditions of ultra-high latitudes of Arctic region and possibility of their non-drug correction during Polar Day

BACKGROUND: Currently, there is an increasing expansion of Russia’s areas of interest in the Arctic region with an increase in the number of specialists of various profiles working in high and ultra-high latitudes on a long-term basis. Modern technologies effectively solve the problems of improving everyday life, reducing the influence of negative factors of the North, which makes it possible to increase the number of employees and expand the range of tasks they perform. At the same time, in these conditions, a person is constantly exposed to negative factors of the North, which affect both the effectiveness of his professional activity and his state of health. Negative factors are also seasonal in nature, associated with the peculiarities and change of the periods Polar Day — Polar Night. One of these important factors is sleep disorders, which have a negative impact on the effectiveness of professional activities, short-term and long-term changes in health. Most studies have focused on sleep disturbances in high latitude environments during the Polar Night period.

AIM: The aim of the work was to study the features of sleep disorders in people working in ultra-high latitudes of the Arctic region during the Polar Day and to develop methods for their correction.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: As part of the goal of the study, 208 people working on a rotational basis on the island of Alexandra Land of the Franz Josef Land archipelago during the Polar Day were examined. The study was conducted through an extended survey on sleep quality and the use of a questionnaire to assess the severity of insomnia and the daytime sleepiness scale.

RESULTS: According to the results of the examination, typical sleep disturbances for the polar day period were: difficulty falling asleep, difficulty maintaining sleep (superficial sleep with frequent awakenings), early awakening, daytime (afternoon) sleepiness. At the same time, most of the subjects noted the seasonality of these complaints associated with the Polar Day period. It was revealed that the most pronounced and persistent sleep disorders are detected in persons during their stay in the Arctic zone from 1 to 3 years and after 10 years of work, which is associated in the first case with the formation of adaptation mechanisms, in the second — with their exhaustion. Factors supporting sleep disorders were identified (social and information deprivation (lack of access to Internet resources, limited communication with the mainland, etc.); physical inactivity; irregular daily shift schedule, the need to perform additional work, monotony of work, exposure to low temperatures).

CONCLUSION: Non-drug correction methods have been proposed that have shown high efficacy.