RESUMO
Background: Several factors cause mental stress during a pandemic where academic life is uncertain. This stress may cause a change in healthy behavior. Sleep is one of the important aspects and is deranged with physical or mental stress. Aim and Objectives: With this background, we conducted this study with university students to know the level of stress and sleep pattern and to find any correlation between them. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional observational online survey study was conducted in Bhubaneswar, Odisha with 100 university students during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The stress was assessed with the COVID-19 Student Stress Questionnaire (CSSQ) and subjective sleep was assessed by Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Inventory (PSQI). Both the questionnaires were in English and were having Likert-type response options. The survey data were analyzed by Statistical test by GraphPad Prism 6.01 software package. Results: Among the participants, 66% had high stress, 24% had moderate stress, and 10% had low stress. The sleep quality analysis showed that 76% of students were having poor sleep and 24% had good sleep. There was a positive correlation between the CSSQ and PSQI score (r = 0.45, P < 0.0001). This indicates a strong correlation between stress and sleep quality. Conclusion: During a pandemic like the current COVID-19 pandemic, university students suffer from a high level of stress and disturbed sleep. Hence, to restore the wellbeing of the students, a proper sleep hygiene practice should be promoted that may eventually help reduce stress. On the other hand, proper information regarding academic progress and defined assessment methods may help reduce academic stress and promote good sleep.
RESUMO
Background: Alternative medicine systems in India are growing with the advancement of research and pharmaceuticals. The disease – COVID-19 has still no specific treatment modality and the pandemic is continuing. Among the alternative medicine systems, which one is searched more with a connection to the pandemic, are still unknown. Aims and Objectives: This study aimed to assess the global and Indian internet search volume of alternative system medicine – Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy during the past 2 years of the pandemic (March 2020–March 2022). Materials and Methods: On the Google Trends website (https://trends.google.com), we used the following combination of phrases to search the trend and compare the trends: “COVID Ayurveda,” “COVID Yoga,” “COVID Unani,” “COVID Siddha,” and “COVID Homeopathy.” The data were filtered with the date range from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2022. First, the data were collected for the whole world and then India. All the comma separated values were downloaded for further data analysis. Results: Globally, there were two spikes of searching the COVID and Yoga in the second wave and third wave. Search for homeopathy and Ayurveda also showed two peaks during the first and second waves. In India, there were three spikes of search volume for yoga in three waves. The search for homeopathy showed a peak in the first wave. We found a significant positive correlation between global searches and Indian searches. This indicates a correlated demand or knowledge-seeking regarding alternative medicine. Conclusion: People around the world search for alternative medicine as a possible treatment method for COVID-19. The most common search was for Yoga, followed by homeopathy and Ayurveda in the global population. In India, yoga was the highest searched method followed by homeopathy and Ayurveda.