Working Mode and Physical Activity as Factors Determining Stress and Sleep Quality during COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown in Poland.

Anna Lipert,Kamila Musiał,Paweł Rasmus

doi:10.3390/life12010028

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic and related government restrictions have a significant impact on peoples’ everyday functioning and working, which influences their physical and mental health. The aim of the study was to examine the associations between stress and sleep quality of people of different working modes: working in the workplace (WP), working remotely (RW), and nonworking (NW) in relation to their physical activity (PA) during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Poland. It was an online survey performed during governmental lockdown in April 2020. The data were collected form 1959 adults using International Physical Activity Questionnaire—Short Form (IPAQ-SF), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). The conducted analysis included t-Student test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and mediation analysis (MANOVA). A moderate level of stress was reported in 57% of participants, and 34% of them reported a high stress level. Poor sleep quality was reported in 64% of participants. Total PA performed daily was, on average, 184.8 ± 170.5 min/day for WP, 120.6 ± 124.4 min/day for RW, and 124.6 ± 114.7 min/day for NW (p < 0.001). There was a relationship observed between the stress and sleep quality vs. PA habit and working mode, with p < 0.05. Being physically active can be beneficial to perceive less stress and sleep disturbances influencing sleep quality, especially in remotely or nonworking people. Planning future pandemic restrictions, the policymakers should be aware of the appropriate guidelines of work planning and PA recommendations for people of different working modes.

Highlights

In 2019, the global coronavirus pandemic started, which required the introduction of many government restrictions that significantly influenced everyday life of people
Job insecurity due to restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic has triggered the development of many diseases around European countries, especially those related to mental health, such as post-traumatic disorders, high stress level, depression, or anxiety [8,9]
Inactive NW were characterized by poorer quality of sleep in the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) results in comparison to physically inactive RW and WP with p < 0.05 (Figure 12)

Summary

Introduction

In 2019, the global coronavirus pandemic started, which required the introduction of many government restrictions that significantly influenced everyday life of people. Job insecurity due to restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic has triggered the development of many diseases around European countries, especially those related to mental health, such as post-traumatic disorders, high stress level, depression, or anxiety [8,9]. Those mental disorders, especially stress, are included into risk factors for sleep deprivation and poor quality of sleep [10]. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a high widespread presence of sleep disturbances was noticed, affecting 40% of the general population and those working in the health care sector [9,12]

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Discussion

Conclusion