Association of Sleep Duration and Screen Time With Anxiety of Pregnant Women During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Yuan Zhang,Min Chen,Yuge Zhang,Baofeng Zhou,Xue Bai,Kunming Tian,Rong Cao,Kuntao Chen,Jingyan Tian,Zhiheng Jin,Shijiu Chen,Renli Deng

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.646368

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the patterns of lifestyle and posed psychological stress on pregnant women. However, the association of sleep duration and screen time with anxiety among pregnant women under the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic scenario has been poorly addressed. We conducted one large-scale, multicenter cross-sectional study which recruited 1794 pregnant women across middle and west China. Self-reported demographic characteristics, lifestyle, and mental health status were collected from 6th February to 8th May 2020. We investigated the association of sleep duration and screen time with the risk of anxiety by multivariable logistic regression analysis and linear regression analysis after adjusting potential confounders. The dose-response relationship of sleep duration and screen time with anxiety was visualized using a cubic spline plot. Our data revealed that almost 35% of pregnant women suffered from anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sleep duration was dose-dependently associated with a lower risk of anxiety among pregnant women (OR = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.27–0.63), while screen time exhibited a conversed effect (OR = 2.01, 95% CI:1.00–4.39). Notably, sleep duration (≥8 h/day) synergistically combined with screen time (3–7 h/day) to diminish the risk of anxiety (OR = 0.70, 95% CI: 0.50–0.99). Taken together, sleep duration and screen time were independently and jointly associated with anxiety (P < 0.05). Therefore, promoting a more active lifestyle and maintaining higher sleep quality could improve the mental health of pregnant women, especially under public health emergency.

Highlights

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has spread to 188 countries and more than 100,000,000 people have suffered from COVID-191 Notably, the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic has the world on edge
We found that the pregnant women with anxiety were more likely to have an interrupted nutrition additive intake due to strict quarantine and lockdown measures compared to mental health subjects
Anxiety was associated with less exercise frequency, shortened sleep duration, and longer screen time

Summary

Introduction

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has spread to 188 countries and more than 100,000,000 people have suffered from COVID-191 Notably, the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic has the world on edge. A recent study found that COVID19 contributed to about 20.5% pregnant women suffering from anxiety symptoms in Wuhan (Liu et al, 2020). One reason for this is that pregnant women are seriously worried about being infected by COVID-19, which might impact the health of their fetus (Favre et al, 2020; Gross et al, 2020). Given the adverse outcomes of mental disorders, psychological stress surveillance, and early intervention of the anxiety of pregnant women under the COVID-19 pandemic is crucial

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