ABSTRACT
Objectives/Introduction: The nature of work among healthcare workers (HCW) puts them at risk for insomnia, anxiety and depression. This is especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis since they are required on the frontlines and consistently working under duress. The study aims at identifying insomnia, anxiety, and depression rate among Quebec HCW and to test whether the presence of insomnia during the first wave increases the risk of having anxiety or depression at the second one. Method(s): A sample of 891 HCW (Mdnage = 35;87.7% women) took part in a large survey called MAVIPAN (my life during the pandemic). Among them, 791 completed online versions of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale and the Insomnia Severity Index at time 1 (April-July 2020). From those 791 participants, 455 answered the same questionnaires at time 2 (October 2020) during the second pandemic wave. Result(s): At time 1, 10.6% of HCW reported mild to severe depression, 7.8% reported mild to severe anxiety, while 48.2% reported mild to severe insomnia. These percentages were stable at time 2 (13.2%, 9.7%, and 47.7%, respectively). At time 1 and 2, around 35% of HCW reported having insomnia only (without depression and anxiety). At time 1, if HCW reported having insomnia, they were 4.76 more at risk of also having depression (18.1% vs 3.8%;p < 0.0001) or 7.37 more at risk of also having anxiety (14.0% vs 1.9%;p < 0.0001). At time 2, if they reported having insomnia, the relative risk of having depression or anxiety were 3.39 and 3.02, respectively. HCW reporting insomnia at time 1 were two times more at risk of having anxiety at time 2 (12.8% vs 6.4%;p = 0.03), while reporting insomnia at time 1 did not increase the risk of depression at time 2 (p = 0.26). Conclusion(s): Insomnia is a highly prevalent condition in HCW during the COVID pandemic. Moreover, when present, it increases the chance of having anxiety in the near future. Improving HCW's sleep should be a target in improving their mental health. Since a large proportion of HCW works on atypical work schedules, further analyses will take work schedules into consideration.