Abstract
Background: Sleep quality is influenced adversely or favorably by various intrinsic and extrinsic factors and sleep deprivation is a common problem facing doctors.Objectives: To assess sleep quality among physicians during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and correlate it with possible predictors.Methods: This cross-sectional four-months study included a total of 344 physicians from different medical centers in the period between July 2020 and October 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Physicians were aged between 24 and 60 years from different specialties. Data were collected using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire and Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS).Results: Among our participant physicians there was poor sleep quality in 71.2%, while good sleep quality was present in 28.8%. There were significant correlations between poor sleep quality and the following parameters in the univariate logistic regression analysis: anxiety features (P value <0.001), depressive features (P value <0.001), and past history of COVID-19 (P value 0.003). However, multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that only the presence of anxiety features (P value <0.001) and depressive features (P value <0.001) could be used as significant independent predictor of poor sleep quality among physicians during COVID-19.Conclusion: Presence of anxiety and or depressive features among physicians are the most significant independent predictors of poor sleep quality during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Highlights
The World Health Organization declared the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disease outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020 [1]
Our study showed poor sleep quality among a majority of participating physicians, in agreement with a study from Iraq that revealed that working with COVID-19 patients has a negative effect on sleep among 68.3% of participating physicians [10]
Our study showed presence of anxiety and or depressive symptoms in the majority of participant physicians, in agreement with a study conducted by Lai et al in 2020, which revealed that the psychological stress on frontline workers was incredible, compromising their sleep quality and mental health; more than 70% of health care workers in China have reported psychological distress including insomnia, anxiety, and depression [17]
Summary
The World Health Organization declared the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disease outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020 [1]. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, measures for social distancing were imposed to control the spread of the pandemic. Isolation may have negative effect on affect the psychological well-being and sleep quality. Changes in family organization and routines of work, plus social isolation, may induce feelings helplessness, insomnia, loneliness, anger, and abandonment [2]. The National Health Commission of China published the National Guideline for Psychological Crisis Intervention for COVID-19, and declared that addressing the mental health repercussions of this epidemic become a nationwide mission that require attention of the whole society. Sleep quality is influenced adversely or favorably by various intrinsic and extrinsic factors and sleep deprivation is a common problem facing doctors
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