Background: Sleep difficulty is common in the current society. Poor sleep has a significant influence on health, social interactions and even mortality; therefore, maintaining good sleep is of prime importance. Cannabidiol (CBD), a cannabis-derived compound, is known for its medical significance with many positive effects in humans, including decreasing anxiety and improving sleep for those with sleep disorders. Objective: However, whether CBD skin absorption results in similar effects is unknown. Therefore, examining CBD-coated fabric as a pillow cover to improve sleep quality in duty shift nurses is the purpose of this paper. Methods: This study recruited 55 duty shift nurses as participants to evaluate sleep patterns and quality using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and a consumer-grade tracker (Fitbit Charge 3). Data were collected over three phases: a one-week baseline period, a two-week intervention period using a CBD-coated pillow cover and a one-week follow-up period, referred to as the post-intervention phase, during which the use of CBD-coated pillow cover was continued. Results: Of the 55 participants, 10 were men (18.2%) and 45 were women (81.8%). At baseline, all participants exhibited poor sleep quality (PSQI ≥ 5). However, after three weeks of using CBD-coated pillow covers, subjective sleep quality significantly improved, with 7.3% of participants achieving PSQI scores <5. Additionally, slight changes in sleep patterns were observed, with increases in both light sleep and deep sleep durations. Light sleep duration increased from a baseline of 196.21 ± 65.28 to 206.57 ± 59.15 min two weeks after intervention (p = 0.337). Similarly, deep sleep duration showed a modest increase from 61.97 ± 21.01 min to 64.35 ± 22.19 min (p = 0.288). Furthermore, a significant reduction in anxiety levels was reported (p < 0.005). Conclusions: Using a CBD-coated pillow cover was found to enhance sleep duration in healthy individuals experiencing poor sleep. Consequently, for adults struggling with sleep difficulties, incorporating a CBD-coated pillow cover may serve as an effective aid in improving sleep quality.
Keywords: cannabidiol (CBD); non-rapid eye movement (NREM); nurses; pillowcase; sleep quality.