Purpose
The study aimed to (a) assess the sleep pattern changes and the level of fatigue among COVID positive adults (b) determine the association of sociodemographic and lifestyle factors (
age, gender, marital status, occupation, income, exercise, nap, diet, and comorbidities
) on sleep pattern and level of fatigue c) examine the relationship between sleep and fatigue, and between sleep problems, sleep quality and fatigue, among a community sample of COVID-19 affected adults.
Methods
A non-experimental, descriptive, cross-sectional survey design was used. Participants were adults, between 18 and 63 years
(n
=
782)
, who tested positive for COVID-19 infection using RT–PCR or Antigen test, confined to home quarantine/under observation, and without any complications. Data was collected using the socio-demographic-sleep and related activity questionnaire, Fatigue Assessment Scale, and Sleep Quality Scale.
Results
A majority of the participants reported either mild to moderate sleep quality problems (97.31%) and 377 of them (48.21%) reported fatigue levels. A significant association between sleep quality and fatigue with gender, and lifestyle factors such as sleep duration, food intake, napping, exercise pattern, and influence of COVID-19 on livelihood after being affected with COVID-19, and time of experiencing sleep problems after COVID-19 infection (all,
p
˂ 0.01) were observed, as well as age with sleep quality. Poor sleep quality and fatigue were significantly correlated with each other, and also with sleep problems before being affected with COVID-19 (
p
= 0.000).
Conclusions
The study has shown that COVID-19 has an effect on an individual's demographic factors and a multitude of lifestyle factors, and highlights the need for post-COVID-19 monitoring even after recovery from the disease.