Sleep quality among health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Events such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and disease outbreaks are associated with psychiatric morbidities, including sleep disturbance. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused or aggravated pre-existing mental health conditions among frontline health care workers (HCWs).A study 1 from China reported that 36% of hospital staff experienced insomnia during the crisis. In the high-insomnia group, females and nurses were more likely to be anxious and depressed. We examined sleep quality in a sample of 150 physicians (39.3%) and nurses (60.7%) who cared for patients with COVID-19 in Oman. Females made up 77.3% of participants. The average age was 37.62 years (standard deviation [SD] = 7.79 years).We used 3 measures, as follows:1. The 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, which rates anxiety symptoms on a 4-point Likert scale from 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day). A score of 10 or higher suggests a higher level of anxiety. The Cronbach's α was .85. The 5-item World Health Organization Well-BeingIndex (WHO-5), which gauges subjective well-being, uses a 6-point Likert rating scale from 0 (none of the time) to 5 (all of the time). The total scores were multiplied by 4 to create a percentage scale with a range from 0 (worst well-being) to 100 (best well-being). A score less than 50 indicates poor well-being and possible depression. The Cronbach's α was .88. 3. The Sleep Quality Scale (SQS) is a single item of global sleep quality scored from 0 (terrible sleep) to 10 (excellent sleep). The mean scores on the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, WHO-5, and SQS were 7.43 ± 4.64, 50.54 ± 22.57, and 6.82 ± 2.04, respectively.

The effects of COVID-19 stay-at-home order on sleep, health, and working patterns: a survey study of US health care workers

“…The worsening of mood in health care workers in this sample is consistent with previous studies in other countries [1][2][3] . The etiology of the change in mood is likely multifactorial.…”

“…Although the prevalence of insomnia was overall low, slightly more front line workers than second line workers (10.5 vs. 4.0%, p<.001) had moderately severe insomnia on the Insomnia Severity Index 2 . Similar results were found in Oman, where as many as 30% of physicians and nurses who treated COVID-19 patients experienced moderate to severe anxiety 3 .…”

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 Disturbances, Anxiety, and Burnout during the COVID-19 Pandemic: a nationwide cross-sectional study in Brazilian Healthcare Professionals

“…In addition, healthcare professionals have a higher risk of contamination when compared to the general population [9]. Several reports [10–18] have discussed the potential impact of COVID-19 pandemic on sleep in healthcare professionals. Limitations of previous studies include one or more factors including small sample sizes, analysis of specific healthcare occupations, the lack of comparisons with the period pre-COVID-19, and lack of assessment of several variables associated with insomnia.…”