Abstract
COVID-19 pandemic consequences are tragic, and many problems will persist after the health problem ends. Some studies have focused on mental health issues, reporting worrying percentages. It is known that there is a bidirectional relationship between mental health and sleep quality, and it would be expected that sleep would be affected by the pandemic. In order to know the Portuguese people’s habits before and during the confinement, we carried out a survey of 188 people aged 13 to 84 (38 ± 15) to find out the most frequent sleep patterns, habits and disorders before and during confinement. With this survey it was also intended to measure the most frequent changes in sleep patterns, habits, and disturbances on the general population and according to demographic data (gender, age group and professional status), sleep disorders arise, perceptions about sleep during confinement and if Portuguese think that in the future the sleep patterns will be the pre or during outbreak. Results indicate that, comparing before and during confinement, there is a slight correlation between gender and sleep disorders (before vs. during), a correlation between age group and professional status time to wake up, and between professional status and sleep disorders, and a strong correlation between the professional situation and changes in the invigorated feeling level (p < 0.001). Support for mental health and interventions to improve sleep quality should be offered to the population in general, and, according to our study, the Portuguese population.
Highlights
IntroductionCOVID-19 as a pandemic [1]
On 11 March 2020, the Director-General of the World Health Organization definedCOVID-19 as a pandemic [1]
Abid et al presented a study aiming to investigate the effect of COVID-19 home confinement on sleep quality, screen time and physical activity in Tunisian children with a special focus on gender differences, and concluded that the results revealed that confinement following COVID-19 had a negative effect on all parameters considered, with significant association of gender with sleep disturbances, subjective sleep quality, global Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) and nocturnal scores, and global screen time with poorer sleep and longer screen time in girls compared to boys during home confinement [12]
Summary
COVID-19 as a pandemic [1]. This pandemic will forever mark those who lived through it. We do not know the extent of the consequences for the world, but we already have enough information to know that a pandemic crisis has brought countless disasters: the obvious ones related to health and the number of people who lost their lives because of the virus, and related to economic and social aspects, as others. Huang and Zhao [2], early in the pandemic, identified a major mental health problem in the Chinese public, especially young people (because they think a lot about the outbreak) and health professionals—two groups that were at high risk in terms of psychological problems. Other studies reveal alarming numbers: 69% of a study participants revealed clinically relevant anxiety, 31%
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