Insomnia management for ageing employees with job stress

¹ Riga Eastern Clinical University Hospital, Latvia
² University of Latvia, Ergonomic Research Center, Latvia
³ Rīga Stradiņš University, Latvia

Abstract

In Latvia, the number of aging employees suffering from sleep disorders caused by job stress and poor sleep hygiene is increasing. The non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic treatment is prescribed for these employees in the sleep management. The aim of this research is to clarify the efficiency of using psychotherapy with learning and observing sleep hygiene, combined with the melatonergic drug during a six-week treatment course applied to 25 both male and female intellectual workers over 65 years suffering from insomnia caused by job stress. For the patients representing Group “A” cognitive hypnotherapy, intervention for improving coping with job stress and usage of the melatonergic drug was prescribed, while Group “B” patients received six weeks only drug. The severity of depressive episodes in employees was measured by Montgomery- Åsberg Depression Rating Scale, the level of anxiety was assessed by use Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. The results of the research show that insomnia patterns disappeared for 75% of women and 80% of men employees in Group A, but in Group B individuals, – only for 20% of women employees. The results acquired let concluding that the six-week treatment – cognitive hypnotherapy combined with melatonergic drug – is an effective treatment for aging workers suffering from sleep disorders.