Sleep characteristics in health workers exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Introduction The development of sleep disorders, and specifically insomnia, has been linked to the exposure to different stressors. In this line, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak caused by the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, has caused a huge impact on our environment, and has exposed healthcare workers to an unprecedented threat. In this study, we try to assess sleep quality and the development of sleep disorders in health personnel directly dedicated to the care of COVID-19 patients at the height of the pandemic, compared to the general population. Materials and methods A cross-sectional, anonymized, self-reported questionnaire survey was carried out at the “12 de Octubre” Hospital, in Madrid, Spain, during the outbreak of COVID-19, from March 1st to April 30th 2020. We compared two groups, healthcare workers who have treated directly COVID-19 patients versus non-healthcare workers. The questionnaire included demographic data, sleep related aspects, Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and 17-items Hamilton Rating Scale (HRS). Results In total 170 participants completed the questionnaire successfully, 100 healthcare workers and 70 non-healthcare workers. Self-reported insomnia, nightmares, sleepwalking, sleep terrors and PSQI>6 were more frequent in the healthcare group (p < 0,05). Shift work was associated to greater risk when performing multiple logistic regression analysis. Conclusions We observed that, during the outbreak of COVID-19, healthcare workers on the front line developed more sleep disturbances than non-healthcare professionals, and they had worse quality of sleep. Special attention should be paid to shift workers. Concrete protection and prevention measures for particularly exposed population should be considered in pandemic situations.

Reduced Sleep Duration and Sleep Efficiency Were Independently Associated With Frequent Nightmares in Chinese Frontline Medical Workers During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Outbreak

“…and 27.3% of medical workers dealing with COVID-19 patients in the present study. Compared with our findings, previous reports found a higher prevalence (38-59%) of nightmares in frontline health-care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic (Giardino et al, 2020;Herrero San Martin et al, 2020;Tu et al, 2020). The discrepancy may mainly come from differences in frequency required for diagnosing a nightmare, which was not described or was defined as the response of "yes" of "presenting nightmare symptoms" in some studies.…”

“…Nightmares were one of parasomnias, which present as vivid dreams containing negative emotions during rapid eye movement (REM) with usually subsequent awakenings (Sateia, 2014). During the COVID-19 pandemic, nightmares were found in 38-59% (Giardino et al, 2020;Herrero San Martin et al, 2020;Tu et al, 2020) of healthcare workers at the frontline, higher than those in non-healthcare workers (Herrero San Martin et al, 2020). Nightmares were related to depression symptoms, anxiety disorder, psychiatric diagnosis, and neuroticism personality trait in the general public (Nakajima et al, 2014;Sandman et al, 2015).…”

Sleep Disturbances in Frontline Health Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Social Media Survey Study

“…Salari et al [ 8 ] reviewed 7 cross-sectional studies from Asia and the Middle East conducted among nurses and physicians prior to June 24, 2020, and they reported a prevalence of sleep disturbances of 34.8% and 41.6% in nurses and physicians, respectively. Additionally, several other studies reported on sleep loss in health care workers from countries such as Oman [ 9 ], Bahrain [ 10 ], and Spain [ 11 ].…”

Sleep quality and COVID-19 outcomes: the evidence-based lessons in the framework of predictive, preventive and personalised (3P) medicine

“…Table 2 presents the collected data with corresponding interpretation towards analysed sleep quality in healthcare givers. The analysed data indicate that working with COVID-19-affected patients is associated not only with a poorer sleep quality and insomnia symptoms, but also with mental health risks such as increased stress and burnout as well as a strong predisposition to mental disorders such as depression and anxiety [56,57,[59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77].…”