Effect of confinement during covid-19 outbreak on sleep quality in Galicia

Abstract

Background: Stressful situations may have a negative effect on population’s mental health, including impaired sleep quality. Thus, we analysed the effect on sleep during the confinement due to the COVID-19 outbreak, in a Galicia population sample, measuring subjective sleep satisfaction, and insomnia intensity and incidence.

Methods: Through an adapted questionnaire from the Cuestionario Oviedo de Sueño, distributed telematically and printed, using a convenience sampling in Galicia, we compared sleep situation, before and during the first two weeks of confinement for COVID-19. We compared the results of the questionnaire before and during confinement with the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and McNemar’s test.

Results: In 451 analysed subjects, there was about half point decrease in sleep satisfaction (in a 1 to 7 scale), three points increase in insomnia score (9 to 45 scale) and an increase from 23.1 to 36.3% in the insomnia incidence (p<0.001 for all the comparisons). There existed less affectation in the insomnia incidence in elderly above 65 years (from 21.7 to 26.1%, p=1) and in subjects that telecommuted (unchanged 28.1% incidence, p=1). In a post-hoc analysis of a health workers subgroup, sleep affectation was similar to that of others workers.

Conclusions: Confinement situation in COVID-19 outbreak context in our environment has caused important alterations in the population’s sleep quality, increasing the symptoms and incidence of insomnia.