Project description:Evidence from previous coronavirus outbreaks has shown that infected patients are at risk for developing psychiatric and mental health disorders, such as depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbances. To construct a comprehensive picture of the mental health status in COVID-19 patients, we conducted a systematic review and random-effects meta-analysis to assess the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbances in this population. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL, Wanfang Data, Wangfang Med Online, CNKI, and CQVIP for relevant articles, and we included 31 studies (n = 5153) in our analyses. We found that the pooled prevalence of depression was 45% (95% CI: 37-54%, I2 = 96%), the pooled prevalence of anxiety was 47% (95% CI: 37-57%, I2 = 97%), and the pooled prevalence of sleeping disturbances was 34% (95% CI: 19-50%, I2 = 98%). We did not find any significant differences in the prevalence estimates between different genders; however, the depression and anxiety prevalence estimates varied based on different screening tools. More observational studies assessing the mental wellness of COVID-19 outpatients and COVID-19 patients from countries other than China are needed to further examine the psychological implications of COVID-19 infections.
Project description:ObjectivesTo assess prevalence and related factors of sleep disturbances among Saudi physicians during COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected through a questionnaire including items about demographic characters, knowledge about covid-19 and items to assess sleep quality that were extracted from Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scale.ResultsPrevalence of sleep disorders was 43.9%, doctors in the age group of 31-40 years, associate consultants had a significant higher prevalence of sleep disorders. Medical interns and laboratory/pathology/microbiology doctors had a significant more difficulty in fall asleep during COVID-19, and internists and surgeons had a significant higher percent of those who used sleeping pills. Resident doctors had a significant higher percent of having trouble in staying awake, and residents and consultants had a significant higher percent of those who suffered decreased sleep duration. Sleep quality during COVID-19 was very good, fair good and very bad in 23.4%, 60% and 3.5% of HCW respectively. The study observed a negative impact of COVID-19 pandemic on HCW sleep quality. Hospitals administrations should provide optimal working hours with enough break and employ more doctors during the pandemic. Doctors experiencing sleep problems should have mandatory leaves.
Project description:The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed extraordinary and unpredictable changes on our lifestyle for an unknown duration. Consequently, core aspects of wellbeing including behavior, emotion, cognition, and social interactions are negatively affected. Sleep and circadian rhythms, with an extensive impact on physiology, behavior, emotion, and cognition are affected too. We provided an updated overview of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on circadian rhythms and sleep based on the results of published studies (n = 48) in three sections. First, we focus on circadian misalignment due to the pandemic in the general population (including shift workers, health staff, students) and COVID-19 patients and summarize the most critically contributing factors to circadian misalignment. Next, we address sleep difficulties and poor sleep quality during the pandemic, their contributing factors, rate and prevalence, and their effects on both the general population and COVID-19 patients. Finally, we summarize the currently applied/recommended interventions for aligning circadian rhythms and improving sleep quality in both, the general population, and COVID-19 patients during the pandemic situation. Briefly, circadian misalignment and sleep difficulties are common consequences of the pandemic in the general population (with elderly, students, children, health and night-work shifters as risk groups) and COVID-19 patients. Home confinement and its physiological, circadian, and psychological derivates are central to these difficulties. Symptoms severity, treatment progress, recovery duration, and even diagnosis of COVID-19 patients are considerably affected by circadian and sleep difficulties. Behavioral interventions for normalizing the factors that contribute to circadian and sleep difficulties are helpful.
Project description:BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has become a serious concern among the global medical community and has resulted in an unprecedented psychological impact on health care workers, who were already working under stressful conditions.ObjectiveIn this study, we aimed to evaluate and measure the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the anxiety levels and sleep quality among health care workers in India, as well as to determine how the unavailability of personal protective equipment affects their willingness to provide patient-related care.MethodsWe conducted an online cross-sectional study using piloted, structured questionnaires with self-reported responses from 368 volunteer male and female health care workers in India. Study participants were identified through social networking platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp. The survey evaluated the participants' degree of signs and symptoms of anxiety and sleep quality based on the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale and single-item Sleep Quality Scale, respectively. Information on the availability of personal protective equipment was collected based on responses to relevant survey questions.ResultsThe majority of health care workers (126/368, 34.2%) were in the age group 45-60 years, and 52.2% (192/368) were doctors. Severe anxiety (ie, GAD-7 score >10) was observed among 7.3% (27/368) health care workers, whereas moderate, mild, and minimal anxiety was observed among 12.5% (46/368), 29.3% (108/368), and 50.8% (187/368) health care workers, respectively. Moreover, 31.5% (116/368) of the health care workers had poor-to-fair sleep quality (ie, scores <6). Univariate analysis showed female gender and inadequate availability of personal protective equipment was significantly associated with higher anxiety levels (P=.01 for both). Sleep disturbance was significantly associated with age <30 years (P=.04) and inadequate personal protective equipment (P<.001). Multivariable analysis showed that poorer quality of sleep was associated with higher anxiety levels (P<.001).ConclusionsThe COVID-19 pandemic has potentially caused significant levels of anxiety and sleep disturbances among health care workers, particularly associated with the female gender, younger age group, and inadequate availability of personal protective equipment. These factors put health care workers at constant risk of contracting the infection themselves or transmitting it to their families. Early identification of at-risk health care workers and implementation of situation-tailored mitigation measures could help alleviate the risk of long-term, serious psychological sequelae as well as reduce current anxiety levels among health care workers.
Project description:BackgroundCOVID-19 has not only resulted in acute health issues but also led to persistent symptoms known as long COVID, which have been linked to disruptions in sleep quality.ObjectiveThis study aims to investigate the associations between COVID-19, long COVID, and sleep disturbances, focusing on demographic, socioeconomic, and psychological factors among a Chinese population.MethodsThis cross-sectional study included 1062 participants from China. Demographic, socioeconomic, and clinical data were collected through web-based questionnaires. Participants were divided into 2 groups based on COVID-19 infection status: infected and noninfected. Within the infected group, participants were further categorized into those with long COVID and those without long COVID. Noninfected participants were included in the non-long COVID group for comparison. Sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), while depression and anxiety were evaluated using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scales, respectively. Multivariable linear regression was conducted to examine the associations between COVID-19, long COVID, and sleep quality, adjusting for demographic and psychosocial factors.ResultsCOVID-19 infection was confirmed in 857 participants, with 273 of them developing long COVID. No significant sex disparities were observed in infection rates (P=.63). However, a marginal statistical difference was noted in the prevalence of long COVID among females (P=.051). Age was significantly associated with both infection rates (P<.001) and long COVID (P=.001). Participants aged 60-70 years were particularly vulnerable to both outcomes. Sleep latency was significantly longer in the infected group (mean 1.73, SD 0.83) compared to the uninfected group (mean 1.57, SD 0.78; P=.01), and PSQI scores were higher (mean 8.52, SD 4.10 vs. 7.76, SD 4.31; P=.02). Long COVID participants had significantly worse sleep outcomes across all metrics (P<.001), except for sleep medication use (P=.17).ConclusionsOur findings indicate that long COVID is strongly associated with significant sleep disturbances, while initial COVID-19 infection shows a more moderate association with sleep issues. Long COVID-related sleep disturbances were exacerbated by factors such as age, income, and chronic health conditions. The study highlights the need for targeted interventions that address the multifaceted impacts of long COVID on sleep, especially among vulnerable groups such as older adults and those with lower socioeconomic status. Future research should use longitudinal designs to better establish the temporal relationships and causal pathways between COVID-19 and sleep disturbances.
Project description:Disturbed sleep is a common subjective complaint among individuals with anxiety disorders. Sleep deprivation increases general and specific anxiety symptoms among healthy individuals. The amygdala is critical for regulating anxiety and also involved in mediating the effects of emotions on sleep. Neuropeptide S (NPS) and NPS receptors (NPSR) are reported as a novel endogenous arousal and anxiolytic system, but it is unclear yet whether this system is involved in anxiety-like behavior and sleep caused by sleep deprivation, and how it plays anxiolytic effect underlying the comorbid condition. In the present study, we demonstrate that paradoxical sleep deprivation (PSD) induced by modified multiple platform method (MMPM) for 24 h caused anxiety-like behavior, a prolonged sleep latency and subsequent paradoxical sleep (PS) rebound accompanied by an increase in electroencephalogram (EEG) theta (4.5-8.5 Hz) activities across light and dark phase in rats. The increase of PS after PSD was due to an increase of episode number during light phase and both episode number and duration during dark phase. Central action of NPS (1 nmol) attenuated PSD-induced anxiety-like behavior, and altered PSD-induced sleep-wake disturbances through increasing wakefulness, and suppressing PS and EEG theta activities. The reduction in PS time following NPS administration during light phase was because of a decreased episode number. Furthermore, sleep amount in 24 h in PSD rats given NPS was lesser than that given saline. PSD significantly enhanced NPSR mRNA expression level in the amygdala. NPS remarkably increased the number of Fos-ir neurons in the basolateral amygdala (BLA), the central amygdala (CeA) and medial amygdala (MeA). The majority of Fos-ir neurons induced by NPS also expressed NPSR. These results suggest that NPSR upregulation in the amygdala is presumably related to the PSD-induced anxiety-like behavior and sleep disturbances, and that NPS counteracts PSD-induced anxiety-like behavior and sleep disturbances possibly through activating the neurons bearing NPSR in the amygdala. In addition, the little sleep increase in PSD rats treated with NPS suggests that NPS can function as an anxiolytic without causing a subsequent sleep rebound.
Project description:This study reviews the existing literature on psychiatric interventions for individuals affected by the COVID-19 epidemic. My article cumulates previous research on how extreme stressors associated with COVID-19 may aggravate or cause psychiatric problems. The unpredictability of the COVID-19 epidemic progression may result in significant psychological pressure on vulnerable populations. Persons with psychiatric illnesses may experience worsening symptoms or may develop an altered mental state related to an increased suicide risk. The inspected findings prove that psychological intervention measures for patients affected by the epidemic should be designed and personalized adequately. Preventive measures seek to decrease infection rates and cut down the risk of the public healthcare system to eventually be overburdened. Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, people with psychiatric illnesses may confront a decrease in mental health services. As limitations in the current review, by focusing only on articles published in journals indexed in Web of Science, Scopus, and ProQuest, I inevitably disregarded other valuable sources. Subsequent research directions should clarify the effectiveness of online mental health services in providing remote psychiatric interventions to individuals affected by the COVID-19 epidemic.
Project description:BackgroundSleep and mental wellbeing are intimately linked. This relationship is particularly important to understand as it emerges over childhood. Here we take the opportunity that the COVID-19 pandemic, and resulting lockdown in the UK, presented to study sleep-related behaviour and anxiety in school-aged children.MethodsParents and children were asked to complete questionnaires towards the start of the UK lockdown in April-to-May of 2020, then again in August of that year (when many restrictions had been lifted). We explored children's emotional responses to the pandemic and sleep patterns at both time points, from the perspectives of parents and children themselves.ResultsChildren's bedtime anxiety increased at the start of the lockdown as compared to a typical week; however, by August, bedtime anxiety had ameliorated along with children's COVID-19 related anxiety. Bedtime anxiety predicted how long it took children to fall asleep at night at both the start and the end of the lockdown. Bedtime and wake-up time shifted at the start of lockdown, but interestingly total sleep time was resilient (likely owing to an absence of early school start times) and was not predicted by child anxiety.ConclusionsThese findings further support calls for sleep quality (in particular, time taken to fall asleep) to be taken as a key indicator of mental health in children, particularly under usual circumstances when schools are open and sleep duration may be less resilient.
Project description:Study objectivesThe stress imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing social isolation could adversely affect sleep. As sleep problems may persist and hurt health, it is important to identify which populations have experienced changes in sleeping patterns during the pandemic and their extent.MethodsIn Study 1, 3,062 responders from 49 countries accessed the survey website voluntarily between March 26 and April 26, 2020, and 2,562 (84%; age: 45.2 ± 14.5, 68% women) completed the study. In Study 2, 1,022 adult US responders were recruited for pay through Mechanical Turk, and 971 (95%; age 40.4 ± 13.6, 52% women) completed the study. The survey tool included demographics and items adapted from validated sleep questionnaires on sleep duration, quality and timing, and sleeping pills consumption.ResultsIn Study 1, 58% of the responders were unsatisfied with their sleep. Forty percent of the responders reported a decreased sleep quality vs before COVID-19 crisis. Self-reported sleeping pill consumption increased by 20% (P < .001). Multivariable analysis indicated that female sex, being in quarantine, and 31- to 45-years age group, reduced physical activity and adverse impact on livelihood were independently associated with more severe worsening of sleep quality during the pandemic. The majority of findings were reproduced in the independent cohort of Study 2.ConclusionsChanges imposed due to the pandemic have led to a surge in individuals reporting sleep problems across the globe. The findings raise the need to screen for worsening sleep patterns and use of sleeping aids, especially in more susceptible populations, namely, women and people with insecure livelihoods subjected to social isolation.
Project description:BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic impacts the whole world. So far, nothing is known about the course of psychological disturbances, such as fear, anxiety, and sleep disturbances of this pandemic over time in Europe.MethodsAim of this web-based survey was to assess the mental health burden of the German public over a period of 50 days after the COVID-19 outbreak. 16,245 individuals responded regarding sleep disturbances, COVID-19-fear, and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD-7). Data were put in relation to infection rates, number of deaths and the German stock index.ResultsThe specific fear increased rapidly in concordance with infection numbers. However, no relation to the number of deaths was found, COVID-19-fear developed reversed to the stock index. Initially, 13.5% of the respondents reported a reduced sleep quality, and 7.2% a moderate generalized anxiety; proceeding simultaneously with high peaks. Finally, more than twice as many respondents showed psychological burdens.ConclusionThe COVID-19-fear decreased within six weeks to the level before the shutdown, indicating a habituation to the threatening situation. However, generalized anxiety remained elevated over time. Sleep disturbances, generalized anxiety as well as economical stock alterations develop in advance to infectiological trends which demands consequent and comprehensible information policies.