Sleep During “Lockdown” in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Athanasia Trakada, Pantelis T. Nikolaidis, Marilia dos Santos Andrade, Paulo José Puccinelli, Nicholas-Tiberio Economou, Paschalis Steiropoulos, Beat Knechtle and Georgia Trakada
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Athanasia Trakada: Department of Clinical Therapeutics, Division of Pulmonology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, Alexandra Hospital, 11528 Athens, Greece
Pantelis T. Nikolaidis: School of Health and Caring Sciences, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece
Marilia dos Santos Andrade: Department of Physiology, Federal University of Sao Paulo, 05508-000 Sao Paulo, Brazil
Paulo José Puccinelli: Department of Physiology, Federal University of Sao Paulo, 05508-000 Sao Paulo, Brazil
Nicholas-Tiberio Economou: Department of Clinical Therapeutics, Division of Pulmonology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, Alexandra Hospital, 11528 Athens, Greece
Paschalis Steiropoulos: Department of Pulmonology, Democritus University of Thrace Medical School, University Hospital of Alexandroupolis, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece
Beat Knechtle: Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland
Georgia Trakada: Department of Clinical Therapeutics, Division of Pulmonology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, Alexandra Hospital, 11528 Athens, Greece

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 23, 1-10

Abstract: The aim of this study was to determine if the lockdown measures applied due to the pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) affected the sleep of the general population and health professionals in six different countries (Greece, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, and Brazil). We used a web-based survey with a short questionnaire of 13 questions, translated into four languages (Greek, German, French, and Portuguese). The questionnaire included information about demographic and professional data, quantitative and qualitative characteristics of sleep, degree of abidance in lockdown measures, and data about illness or close contact with active confirmed cases of COVID-19. Initially, 2093 individuals participated. After exclusion of those who did not report their duration of sleep, the final sample comprised 1908 participants (Greek, n = 1271; German, n = 257, French, n = 48; Portuguese, n = 332), aged 42.6 ± 12.7 years, who were considered for further analysis. A main effect of the lockdown week on sleep duration was observed (+0.25 h; 95% confidence intervals, CI, 0.17, 0.32; p < 0.001), with the total sleep time of the lockdown week being longer than that under normal conditions. A week*occupation interaction on sleep duration was demonstrated ( p < 0.001, η 2 = 0.012). Sleep duration remained stable in health professionals (−0.18 h; 95% CI −0.36, 0.01; p = 0.063), whereas it increased in other occupations by 0.31 h (95% CI, 0.24, 0.39; p < 0.001). In terms of sleep quality, 15% of participants characterized their sleep as bad and 37.9% as average during the lockdown week. Almost 1 in 3 individuals (31.3%) reported worse quality of sleep during the lockdown week than under normal conditions. Sleep during the lockdown week was characterized as good by 47.1%, but only 38% of the health professionals group. In conclusion, the COVID−19 pandemic and lockdown affected sleep in different ways, depending on age, level of education, occupation, and country of residence.

Keywords: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19); lockdown; sleep; health professionals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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