Subjective sleep quality before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in a Brazilian rural population
Open accessAbstract
Objectives Prior studies have examined sleep during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, but have few compared sleep measured both during and prior to COVID. We examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on subjective sleep quality in general and separately by gender and age (<50 vs. ≥50 years). Further, we compared sleep quality between those who did and did not follow quarantine orders.Methods This sample is from the Baependi Heart Study, a family-based cohort of adults in South-eastern Brazil. Longitudinal data were from 417 individuals who completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) twice: between January 2010 and September 2014 (pre-COVID) and during the COVID-19 stay-at-home order March-June, 2020. Cross-sectional analysis included 800 participants.Results Mean (±SD) PSQI scores were significantly higher during than before COVID-19 (5.7 ± 3.8 vs. 5.0 ± 3.3, p < .01). This increase was significant among women and among adults ≥50 years but not in men or younger adults. The significant increase in PSQI was only observed in those who quarantined during COVID-19 (5.9 ±3.7 vs. 5.2 ±3.4, p < .01) and not those who did not quarantine (5.0 ± 3.7 vs. 4.5 ± 3, p = .12). In cross-sectional analyses, individuals who quarantined had higher PSQI scores than nonquarantined individuals (6.1 ± 3.9 vs. 5.0 ± 3.5, p < .01). The quarantine status-dependent differences were significant for women (6.4 ± 4 vs. 5.2 ± 3.7, p < .01) and older adults (6.6 ± 0.1 vs. 5.5 ± 3.3, p = .04). Differences by quarantine status were attenuated after adjusting for age and gender.Conclusions Subjective sleep quality declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among women, older adults, and those compliant to quarantine orders.
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The pandemic contributed to health problems such as stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, insomnia, denial, anger, and fear on a global scale.
“The pandemic has contributed to health problems such as stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, insomnia, denial, anger, and fear on a global scale [89,90,91].”
From The Effect of Vinyasa Yoga Practice on the Well-Being of Breast-Cancer Patients during COVID-19 Pandemic (2023) · cites this paper as [90]
The Conclusions report that subjective sleep quality declined during the pandemic in a Brazilian rural population, and the Discussion notes that depression and anxiety can negatively affect sleep. The paper does not establish that the pandemic caused the full list of problems—particularly denial, anger, and fear—on a global scale. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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References 43 · Cited by 28
- Authors
- Taporoski, T. P., Beijamini, F., Gómez, L. M., Ruiz, F. S., Ahmed, S. S., von Schantz, M., Pereira, A. C., & Knutson, K. L.
- Affiliations
- Northwestern University (US)
- Universidade Federal da Fronteira Sul (BR)
- Universidade de São Paulo (BR)
- University of Surrey (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Knutson, Kristen L.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Sleep Health
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022-04
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 167-174
- ISSN
- 2352-7218 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8675050
- OpenAlex
- W3217665236
- Cited by
- 28
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 5
- FWCI
- 5.07
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Sleep Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Northumbria Research Link (Northumbria University) (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01HL141881)
- Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (2019/23078-1)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and Work-Related Fatigue
- Keywords
- COVID-19 pandemic, subjective sleep quality, quarantine, stay-at-home orders, gender differences, older adults, rural population, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Sleep Quality, Aged, Brazil, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Male, Rural Population, Pandemics
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