COVID-19-mandated social restrictions unveil the impact of social time pressure on sleep and body clock
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Korman M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7746700 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Light is an important regulator of daily human physiology in providing time-of-day information for the circadian clock to stay synchronised with the 24-hr day. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to social restrictions in many countries to prevent virus spreading, restrictions that dramatically altered daily routines and limited outdoor daylight exposure. We previously reported that sleep duration increased, social jetlag decreased, and mid-sleep times delayed during social restrictions (Global Chrono Corona Survey, N = 7,517). In the present study, we investigated in the same dataset changes in wellbeing and their link to outdoor daylight exposure, and sleep-wake behaviour. In social restrictions, median values of sleep quality, quality of life, physical activity and productivity deteriorated, while screen time increased, and outdoor daylight exposure was reduced by ~58%. Yet, many survey participants also reported no changes or even improvements. Larger reductions in outdoor daylight exposure were linked to deteriorations in wellbeing and delayed mid-sleep times. Notably, sleep duration was not associated with outdoor daylight exposure loss. Longer sleep and decreased alarm-clock use dose-dependently correlated with changes in sleep quality and quality of life. Regression analysis for each wellbeing aspect showed that a model with six predictors including both levels and their deltas of outdoor daylight exposure, sleep duration and mid-sleep timing explained 5%-10% of the variance in changes of wellbeing scores (except for productivity). As exposure to daylight may extenuate the negative effects of social restriction and prevent sleep disruption, public strategies during pandemics should actively foster spending more daytime outdoors.
| S-EPMC8646753 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Introduction:Weekend oversleep or catchup sleep is a frequent occurrence in children, but there are relatively little data concerning its impact on weight and blood pressure. The aim of this study was to assess the association between sleep duration and oversleep, and weight and blood pressure in adolescents. Methods:Sleep duration, weight and blood pressure of 327 children (51.4% boys, mean age 13.3 ± 1.7 years) who had polysomnograms performed during both exam cycles of the Tucson Children's Assessment of Sleep Apnea study (TuCASA) were analyzed. Sleep duration on school nights and non-school nights was used to compute a weighted average of child and parent reported overall sleep duration respectively. Oversleep was defined as the difference between self and parent reported weekend sleep and weekday sleep separately. Simple correlations between overall sleep duration, sleep on school and non-school nights and oversleep, and blood pressure, standardized body mass index (BMI), snoring, respiratory disturbance index (RDI) and age were calculated. Significant bivariate associations then were used to develop multivariate partial correlation models. Results:Unadjusted negative correlations with BMI were noted for parent reported total sleep duration at the 1st exam cycle, parent and child reported total sleep and school night sleep duration, and parent reported non-school night sleep duration at the 2nd exam cycle. Additionally, for BMI, positive correlations were observed for log RDI at both exam cycles and snoring at the 2nd exam cycle. For blood pressure, there were positive associations with age, parent reported oversleep, caffeine consumption and snoring. Additionally, for blood pressure, negative relationships were observed with parent reported total sleep duration at the 1st exam cycle, and parent and child reported total sleep and school night sleep durations at the 2nd exam cycle. Partial correlations found that BMI was negatively correlated with parent reported total sleep duration at the 1st exam cycle and parent reported total sleep duration at the 2nd exam cycle, and positively correlated with snoring and log RDI at both exam cycles. Systolic blood pressure was only associated with age and snoring. Diastolic blood pressure was positively correlated with age and caffeine consumption, and negatively correlated with parent reported total and school night sleep duration. Oversleep and child reported sleep duration were not represented in any of these models. Conclusion:Lower amounts of sleep especially on school nights is associated with higher body weight and blood pressure. Oversleep was not associated with either body weight or blood pressure.
| S-EPMC5783643 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundSeveral trials have reported on the impact of social restrictions due to SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic on sexual function and psycho-physical well-being. However, data showing modifications of these outcomes over time and at the end of lock-down are scant.AimWe investigated the longitudinal changes in sexual function during social restrictions for COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.MethodsA web-based survey was administered to Italian citizens of legal age via social networks. The Beck Depression Inventory Primary Care, the General Health Survey, Female Sexual Function Index, International Index of Erectile Function, UCLA Loneliness Scale-version 3 questionnaires were used to test mental, physical and sexual well-being. The questionnaires were administered at the beginning of the lockdown (T0), 15 days from the first assessment (T1) and 1 month after the end of the restrictions in 2020 (T2).OutcomesDescriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis were applied to investigate changes in sexual function over and at the end of social restrictions.ResultsData were available for 2543 people (47.2% of men; 43.4% women; 9.4% undefined). Mean age was 48.3 ± 15.1 years for males and 43.9 ± 13.4 for females. Overall, 2.6% reported depressive symptoms according to Beck Depression Inventory Primary Care, 7.4% reported a high level of UCLA loneliness and 19.4% low levels of general mental health. Mild to severe erectile dysfunction was reported by 59.1% of men at T0, while 68.4% of women reported sexual dysfunction. Sexual function levels remain generally unchanged at further follow-up over the social restriction time period (T1), although those who were sexually active at baseline showed a decrease in sexual function scores. At T2, there was an overall improvement in sexual function scores with a rate of severe erectile dysfunction decreasing from 37.1% to 24.1% from T0 to T2 among males and a significant decrease of female sexual dysfunction from 68.4% to 51.2%.Clinical implicationsYoung individuals and those with good mental and physical health were more likely to improve sexual function at the end of social restrictions.Strengths & limitationsValid and reliable questionnaires and longitudinal approach design represent strengths; a large but convenient sample and lack of pre-pandemic baseline data represent limits.ConclusionSocial restrictions due to COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in sexual dysfunctions in both genders. However, these conditions appeared temporary since an overall improvement was observed at the end of lockdown and especially in younger individuals with higher psycho-physical well-being. Vedovo F, Capogrosso P, Di Blas L, et al. Longitudinal Impact of Social Restrictions on Sexual Health in the Italian Population. J Sex Med 2022;19:923-932.
| S-EPMC9060260 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Study objectivesSleep is under the control of homeostatic and circadian processes, which interact to determine sleep timing and duration, but the mechanisms through which the circadian system modulates sleep are largely unknown. We therefore used adult-specific, temporally controlled neuronal activation and inhibition to identify an interaction between the circadian clock and a novel population of sleep-promoting neurons in Drosophila.MethodsTransgenic flies expressed either dTRPA1, a neuronal activator, or Shibire(ts1), an inhibitor of synaptic release, in small subsets of neurons. Sleep, as determined by activity monitoring and video tracking, was assessed before and after temperature-induced activation or inhibition using these effector molecules. We compared the effect of these manipulations in control flies and in mutant flies that lacked components of the molecular circadian clock.ResultsAdult-specific activation or inhibition of a population of neurons that projects to the sleep-promoting dorsal Fan-Shaped Body resulted in bidirectional control over sleep. Interestingly, the magnitude of the sleep changes were time-of-day dependent. Activation of sleep-promoting neurons was maximally effective during the middle of the day and night, and was relatively ineffective during the day-to-night and night-to-day transitions. These time-ofday specific effects were absent in flies that lacked functional circadian clocks.ConclusionsWe conclude that the circadian system functions to gate sleep through active inhibition at specific times of day. These data identify a mechanism through which the circadian system prevents premature sleep onset in the late evening, when homeostatic sleep drive is high.
| S-EPMC4712409 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had a major impact on health care services globally. Recent studies report that emergency departments have experienced a significant decline in the number of admitted patients in the early phase of the pandemic. To date, research regarding the influence of COVID-19 on emergency medical services (EMS) is limited. This study investigates a change in the number and characteristics of EMS missions in the early phase of the pandemic.MethodsAll EMS missions in the Northern Ostrobothnia region, Finland (population 295 500) between 1 March to 30 June 2020 were screened and analyzed as the study group. A control group was composed from the EMS calls between the corresponding months in the years 2016-19.ResultsA total of 74 576 EMS missions were screened for the study. Within the first 2 months after the first COVID-19 cases in the study area, the decline in the number of EMS missions was 5.7-13% compared with the control group average. EMS time intervals (emergency call to dispatch, dispatch, en-route, on-scene and hospital handover) prolonged in the COVID-19 period. Dispatches concerning mental health problems increased most in the study period (+1.2%, P < 0.001). Only eleven confirmed COVID-19 infections were encountered by EMS in the study period.ConclusionOur findings suggest that the present COVID-19 pandemic and social restrictions lead to changes in the EMS usage. These preliminary findings emphasize the importance of developing new strategies and protocols in response to the oncoming pandemic waves.
| S-EPMC8083286 | biostudies-literature
Project description:While sleep positively impacts well-being, health, and productivity, the effects of societal factors on sleep remain underexplored. Here we analyze the sleep of 30,082 individuals across 11 countries using 52 million activity records from wearable devices. Our data are consistent with past studies of gender and age-associated sleep characteristics. However, our analysis of wearable device data uncovers differences in recorded vs. self-reported bedtime and sleep duration. The dataset allowed us to study how country-specific metrics such as GDP and cultural indices relate to sleep in groups and individuals. Our analysis indicates that diverse sleep metrics can be represented by two dimensions: sleep quantity and quality. We find that 55% of the variation in sleep quality, and 63% in sleep quantity, are explained by societal factors. Within a societal boundary, individual sleep experience was modified by factors like exercise. Increased exercise or daily steps were associated with better sleep quality (for example, faster sleep onset and less time awake in bed), especially in countries like the U.S. and Finland. Understanding how social norms relate to sleep will help create strategies and policies that enhance the positive impacts of sleep on health, such as productivity and well-being.
| S-EPMC10272146 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundObstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a highly prevalent and underdiagnosed sleep disorder. Recent studies suggest that OSA might disrupt the biological clock, potentially causing or worsening OSA-associated comorbidities. However, the effect of OSA treatment on clock disruption is not fully understood.MethodsThe impact of OSA and short- (four months) and long-term (two years) OSA treatment, with Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), on the biological clock was investigated at four time points within 24 h, in OSA patients relative to controls subjects (no OSA) of the same sex and age group, in a case-control study. Plasma melatonin and cortisol, body temperature and the expression levels and rhythmicity of eleven clock genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were assessed. Additional computational tools were used for a detailed data analysis.FindingsOSA impacts on clock outputs and on the expression of several clock genes in PBMCs. Neither short- nor long-term treatment fully reverted OSA-induced alterations in the expression of clock genes. However, long-term treatment was able to re-establish levels of plasma melatonin and cortisol and body temperature. Machine learning methods could discriminate controls from untreated OSA patients. Following long-term treatment, the distinction between controls and patients disappeared, suggesting a closer similarity of the phenotypes.InterpretationOSA alters biological clock-related characteristics that differentially respond to short- and long-term CPAP treatment. Long-term CPAP was more efficient in counteracting OSA impact on the clock, but the obtained results suggest that it is not fully effective. A better understanding of the impact of OSA and OSA treatment on the clock may open new avenues to OSA diagnosis, monitoring and treatment.
| S-EPMC7920825 | biostudies-literature
Project description:What makes people willing to pay costs to benefit others? Does such cooperation require effortful self-control, or do automatic, intuitive processes favor cooperation? Time pressure has been shown to increase cooperative behavior in Public Goods Games, implying a predisposition towards cooperation. Consistent with the hypothesis that this predisposition results from the fact that cooperation is typically advantageous outside the lab, it has further been shown that the time pressure effect is undermined by prior experience playing lab games (where selfishness is the more advantageous strategy). Furthermore, a recent study found that time pressure increases cooperation even in a game framed as a competition, suggesting that the time pressure effect is not the result of social norm compliance. Here, we successfully replicate these findings, again observing a positive effect of time pressure on cooperation in a competitively framed game, but not when using the standard cooperative framing. These results suggest that participants' intuitions favor cooperation rather than norm compliance, and also that simply changing the framing of the Public Goods Game is enough to make it appear novel to participants and thus to restore the time pressure effect.
| S-EPMC4281206 | biostudies-literature
Project description:We tested the hypotheses that: (1) carotid body size can be measured by computed tomographic angiography (CTA) with high inter-observer agreement, and (2) patients with sleep apnea exhibit larger carotid bodies than those without sleep apnea. A chart review was conducted from patients who underwent neck CTA and polysomnography at the Mayo Clinic between January 2000 and February 2015. Widest axial measurements of the carotid bodies, performed independently by two radiologists, were possible in 81% of patients. Intra-class correlation coefficients ranged from 0.93 to 0.95 (Right carotid body: 0.93; Left: 0.94; Average: 0.95). Widest axial measurements of the carotid bodies were greater in patients with sleep apnea (n=32) compared to controls (n=46, P-value range 0.02-0.04). After adjusting for age, no differences in carotid body size were observed between the patient groups (P-value range 0.45-0.59). We conclude carotid body size can be detected by CTA with high inter-observer agreement; however, carotid body size is not increased in patients with sleep apnea.
| S-EPMC5214089 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectivesIn spring 2020, the first COVID-19 national lockdown placed unprecedented restrictions on the behaviour and movements of the UK population. Citizens were ordered to 'stay at home', only allowed to leave their houses to buy essential supplies, attend medical appointments or exercise once a day. We explored how lockdown and its subsequent easing changed young children's everyday activities, eating and sleep habits to gain insight into the impact for health and well-being.DesignIn-depth qualitative interviews; data analysed using thematic analysis.SettingSouth West and West Midlands of England.ParticipantsTwenty parents (16 mothers; 4 fathers) of preschool-age children (3-5 years) due to start school in September 2020. Forty per cent of the sample were from Black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds and half lived in the most deprived areas.ResultsChildren's activity, screen time, eating and sleep routines had been disrupted. Parents reported children ate more snacks, but families also spent more time preparing meals and eating together. Most parents reported a reduction in their children's physical activity and an increase in screen time, which some linked to difficulties in getting their child to sleep. Parents sometimes expressed guilt about changes in activity, screen time and snacking over lockdown. Most felt these changes would be temporary, though others worried about re-establishing healthy routines.ConclusionsParents reported that lockdown negatively impacted on preschool children's eating, activity and sleep routines. While some positive changes were identified, many participants described lack of routines, habits and boundaries which may have been detrimental for child health and development. Guidance and support for families during COVID-19 restrictions could be valuable to help maintain healthy activity, eating, screen time and sleeping routines to protect child health and ensure unhealthy habits are not adopted.
| S-EPMC8523958 | biostudies-literature