![]() ![]() The primary goal of the present paper was to evaluate whether insomnia was associated with an increased risk for contracting the virus and/or worse symptom outcomes. Ĭonsidering the overall prevalence of insomnia has increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (between 13 and 25% for moderate symptoms), it is critical that studies consider if and how physical health is impacted and, as or more important, whether the increased occurrence of insomnia has altered susceptibility and/or severity to the COVID-19 virus. A recent meta-analysis of studies that used the insomnia severity index (ISI) to assess insomnia symptoms also found that the COVID-19 pandemic is related to greater rates of subthreshold insomnia symptoms but not moderate or severe insomnia symptoms. ![]() While these are the only studies to report on whether insomnia rates have increased following the pandemic, other studies, ,, ], primarily in healthcare workers, have estimated that prevalence rates for insomnia remain exceedingly high throughout the world (rates between 19 and 68% depending on insomnia criteria and sample used). Another study also found that pre-to-post pandemic changes in insomnia symptoms increased among a sample of Norwegian adults. For example, Morin and colleagues (2021) reported that the prevalence of insomnia increased by over 25% relative to pre-pandemic rates, whereas data from another study suggested that the number of people reporting days with difficulty falling or staying asleep nearly doubled as compared to pre-pandemic levels. What is known is that an appreciable segment of the population has developed insomnia symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Only a few studies, however, have directly measured whether sleep and insomnia symptoms have considerably changed since before the start of the pandemic. For example, one study observed sleep patterns among a sample of individuals residing in Italy during different phases of the pandemic and found that, on average, people delayed their bedtime and risetime and increased their time in bed during the lockdowns. ![]() That is, several disease- and social-related circumstances have allowed individuals to alter their sleep schedules (e.g., changes in their time to bed or time out of bed) and subsequently increased the amount of time spent in bed or greater variability with respect to sleep timing both of which may have deleterious short and long term effects on sleep efficiency, , ]. Beyond this, however, the stay-at-home orders, prolonged social confinement, and culture shift to increased work-from-home during the pandemic may also have led to greater instances of insomnia, possibly owing to greater sleep opportunity. These factors alone would be expected to negatively impact sleep (e.g., greater stress-related acute insomnia), ,, ,, , ]. The pandemic has also led to greater stress related to social isolation and loneliness, unemployment, grief, and fear of contracting the disease. To date, nearly 6.6 million COVID-related deaths have been reported as a result of the virus. The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unequivocal negative impact worldwide. ![]()
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