Sleep Problems and New Occurrence of Chronic Conditions during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the UK

Jane Falkingham (), Maria Evandrou, Athina Vlachantoni and Min Qin
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Jane Falkingham: ESRC Centre for Population Change (Connecting Generations), Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
Maria Evandrou: ESRC Centre for Population Change (Connecting Generations), Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
Athina Vlachantoni: ESRC Centre for Population Change (Connecting Generations), Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
Min Qin: ESRC Centre for Population Change (Connecting Generations), Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 23, 1-15

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted upon sleep health. Relatively little is known about how this may influence the population’s health subsequently. This prospective longitudinal study aims to examine the consequences of sleep problems for physical and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK, using data from the Understanding Society: COVID-19 Study, a large-scale population-based survey with 12,804 adults aged 16 and above. A measure of sleep problems was derived from Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questions, reflecting seven dimensions of sleep quality. Binary logistic regressions were applied to investigate the relationship between sleep problem and the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD), hypertension, diabetes, obesity, arthritis and an emotional, nervous or psychiatric problem over the 15 months follow-up period. The analysis confirms that sleep problems are prevalent and vary between sub-groups among adults. Notably, sleep problems are then significantly associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, arthritis and emotional, nervous or psychiatric problems, independent of demographic, socioeconomic, familial and health confounders. Our findings suggest promoting good sleep hygiene should be prioritised during the pandemic, and more generally as part of wider programmes aimed at promoting good physical and mental health.

Keywords: sleep; physical health; mental health; COVID-19 pandemic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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