Persons with history of Covid-19 are at twice the risk of short sleep durations, suggests a recent study presented at SLEEP 2022, the 36th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).

Using data from the United States 2020 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) of 17,636 adults, aged 18 years and older, the researchers conducted a study to investigate an association between Covid-19 and sleep. The sleep quantity and quality in the preceding 30 days were self-reported by the participants.

A confirmed diagnosis of Covid-19 was found in about 4.2% of the participants. When sleep quantity was estimated among them, 3.1% slept for 4 hours or even less; 24.2% had short sleep for 5-6 hours, nearly 60% had healthy sleep, while 12.8% reported sleeping for longer than 9 hours.

The study also showed that about 37% found it difficult to fall asleep some days and nearly 11% participants had trouble sleeping on most days; 6.5% subjects reported sleeping difficulty every day. Furthermore, participants also found it difficult to sleep through the night with 33.7% reporting difficulty in staying asleep some days, 13.9% most days and 6.6% every day.

Participants who had had Covid-19 earlier were at 2-folds higher risk of having short sleep with odds ratio of 1.9. No significant associations were found between other sleep outcomes and Covid-19.

Sleep problems have been common during Covid-19 and have been linked to psychological stress. The terms “Coronasomnia” or “COVID-somnia have been coined by The Sleep Foundation to highlight the link between insomnia and the pandemic. Adding to the evidence, this study has demonstrated an association between Covid-19 and short sleep duration. In these times of the pandemic, persons complaining of poor sleep quantity should also be asked about the history of Covid-19.

Reference

1. Marie-Rachelle Narcisse, et al. 0613 COVID-19 is associated with shorter sleep duration among American Adults. Sleep. 2022 June;45 (Suppl 1):A269. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsac079.610.