The association of insomnia with long COVID: An international collaborative study (ICOSS-II)

Bidirectional relationship between sleep problems and long COVID: a longitudinal analysis of data from the COVIDENCE UK study

“…This population-based study has several strengths. Our use of prospectively collected, pre-infection sleep data strengthens our estimates of pre-infection sleep; most studies to date have relied on retrospectively reported pre-infection sleep data, 3,32,35,37,38 and research has shown that people asked to retrospectively recall their sleep before the pandemic estimated that they slept much better than they actually did. 6 Our extended follow-up enabled us to capture long COVID symptoms presenting at any point after infection, and to record sleep duration over the entire year after infection, in contrast with other studies that have relied on a cross-sectional approach, 32,37 infrequent assessments, 10 or shorter follow-up.…”

“…Our use of prospectively collected, pre-infection sleep data strengthens our estimates of pre-infection sleep; most studies to date have relied on retrospectively reported pre-infection sleep data, 3,32,35,37,38 and research has shown that people asked to retrospectively recall their sleep before the pandemic estimated that they slept much better than they actually did. 6 Our extended follow-up enabled us to capture long COVID symptoms presenting at any point after infection, and to record sleep duration over the entire year after infection, in contrast with other studies that have relied on a cross-sectional approach, 32,37 infrequent assessments, 10 or shorter follow-up. 38 Monthly responses from our participants meant that we were able to track changes in sleep duration with detail that would have been missed if observations had been further apart, while simultaneously allowing us to adjust for time-varying factors that may affect people’s sleep habits—particularly in the context of a pandemic that limited people’s movement and employment.…”

“…Their reported SARS-CoV-2 infections occurred between October, 2020, and March, 2023. Participants were followed up from enrolment for a median of 29 months (24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32). 2247 (32.9%) participants reported sleep problems at baseline (table 3).…”

“…8,31 Our longitudinal analysis extends these findings to show the bidirectional nature of the relationship between sleep and COVID-19 within the same cohort. A large cross-sectional study 32 of both community and hospitalised COVID-19 cases has previously shown a bidirectional relationship between insomnia and long COVID, reporting increased risk of long COVID among people with pre-pandemic insomnia and a higher prevalence of post-infection insomnia among people with long COVID. However, this study relied on retrospectively reported sleep data, and did not benefit from repeated measures of sleep after infection to track whether insomnia symptoms resolved over time.…”

Sleep and long COVID: Preexisting sleep issues and the risk of PASC in a large general population using 3 different model definitions

“… 22 The explanation for the considerable heterogeneity in PASC prevalence rates is not entirely clear, but investigations differed in both methods used to ascertain COVID19 positivity and definition of PASC as well as in the population evaluated. Most studies utilized self-report of both COVID-19 infection and PASC associated symptoms, 6 , 20 , 21 , 23 , 24 but in some, objective documentation of infection was required resulting in lower prevalence rates. 13 , 19 To our knowledge, this is the first study in the U.S. to estimate prevalence rates of PASC using different definitions in the same cohort.…”