Prevalence of Insomnia in the Early Post-COVID-19 Recovery Period.

BACKGROUND

Sleep is a complex, reversible process that is responsible for the modulation of various physiological mechanisms. COVID-19-related sleep disorders are affecting different populations with a heterogenous prevalence, yet high rates among infected patients are frequently reported. The aim of the study is to assess the prevalence of insomnia in the early post-COVID-19 recovery period and explore the differences in the results acquired by the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS) by gender and selected infection severity parameters.

METHODS

The data presented in the paper come from a prospective, observational study on COVID-19 complications (SILCOV-19) consisting of 200 COVID-19 patients. The AIS was used for the quantitative measurement of insomnia symptoms based on ICD-10 criteria.

RESULTS

32% ( = 64) of all patients in the study group obtained results indicating sleep disturbances (>5 points on the scale), while 21.5% ( = 43) obtained results indicating insomnia (>10 points on the scale). The analysis of the results obtained by all patients in the AIS showed a significant correlation with the duration of symptoms (Spearman's rank-order: R = 0.18; < 0.05), but not with the number of days spent in the hospital or age. Women achieved a higher score in overall AIS, as well as in questions assessing total sleep time, well-being the next day, physical and mental fitness the next day, and sleepiness during the day ( < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

the prevalence of insomnia in the early post-COVID-19 recovery period is high.