Consider COVID-19 history when addressing sleep deprivation

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A history of COVID-19 nearly doubled the odds of having very short sleep, according to results from a large U.S. study presented at SLEEP 2022.

“Few studies have focused on factors associated with sleep quantity and quality,” Marie-Rachelle Narcisse, PhD, lead study author and assistant professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Northwest, said.

Further, she added, no studies have been conducted on a large, nationally representative sample of the U.S. population nor have any been multidimensional.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 24% of Americans had insomnia, Narcisse said. Now, 40% are affected, prompting The Sleep Foundation to coin the terms “coronasomnia” and “COVID-somnia.”

Narcisse and colleagues used data from the 2020 National Health Interview Survey to examine the association between past COVID-19 diagnosis and sleep health among 17,713 adults. Participants were asked about sleep quantity (the number of hours of sleep in a 24-hour period) and sleep quality (trouble falling or staying asleep).

According to Narcisse, 4.2% of study participants had a positive COVID-19 diagnosis and of these, 3.1% had very short sleep (4 hours or less), 24.2% had short sleep (5-6 hours), 59.9% had healthy sleep (7-8 hours) and 12.8% had long sleep (9 hours or more).

The study also showed that 37.0% had trouble falling asleep some days, 10.9% had trouble most days, and 6.5% every day. In addition, 33.7% had trouble staying asleep some days, 13.9% most days and 6.6% every day.

“A history of COVID-19 almost doubled the odds of having very short sleep — less than 5 hours,” Narcisse said. “However, there were no significant associations between a past diagnosis of COVID-19 and other sleep quantity categories and trouble falling and staying asleep.”

“It is important for health care professionals to consider a history of COVID-19 when addressing sleep deprivation in their patients,” she concluded.