Smartphone-based virtual agents and insomnia management: A proof-of-concept study for new methods of autonomous screening and management of insomnia symptoms in the general population

Insomnia is the most frequent sleep disorder, and the COVID-19 crisis has massively increased its prevalence in the population, due to psychosocial stress or direct viral contamination. KANOPEE_2 is a smartphone-based application that provides interactions with a virtual agent to autonomously screen and alleviate insomnia symptoms through an intervention programme giving personalized advices regarding sleep hygiene, relaxation techniques and stimulus-control. In this proof-of-concept study, we tested the effects of KANOPEE_2 among users from all over the country (France) who downloaded the app between 1 June and 26 October 2020 (to focus on effects after the end of COVID-19 confinement). Outcome measures include insomnia severity (Insomnia Severity Index) and sleep/wake schedules measured by a sleep diary. One-thousand and thirty-four users answered the screening interview (M-age = 43.76 years; SD = 13.14), and 108 completed the two-step programme (M-age = 46.64 years; SD = 13.63). Of those who answered the screening, 42.8% did not report sleep complaints, while 57.2% presented mild-to-severe insomnia symptoms. At the end of the intervention, users reported significantly fewer sleep complaints compared with the beginning of the intervention (Insomnia Severity Index(beginning) = 13.58; Insomnia Severity Index(end) = 11.30; p < 0.001), and significantly increased their sleep efficiency (sleep efficiency(beginning) = 76.46%; sleep efficiency(end) = 80.17%; p = 0.013). KANOPEE_2 is a promising solution both to provide autonomous evaluation of individuals' sleep hygiene and reduce insomnia symptoms over a brief and simple intervention. These results are very encouraging for addressing the issue of insomnia management in people exposed to major psychosocial stress and the consequences of COVID-19 infection.

Automated summary

The study tested the effects of KANOPEE_2 among users in France, showing that users reported significantly fewer sleep complaints and improved sleep efficiency at the end of the intervention. This indicates that KANOPEE_2 may be a promising solution to provide autonomous evaluation and simple intervention to reduce insomnia symptoms.