ABSTRACT
Introduction: Inadequate sleep habits can compromise the quality of sleep and performance in activities of daily living of the individual, even more, considering the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly interfered in the sleep and mental health of the population. Objective: To encourage the perception of habits that negatively influence the sleep quality of young people during social isolation in times of COVID-19. Methods: A workshop was proposed through the Youtube platform, during a scientific event on “Mental Health”. Two speech therapists organized a workshop with the theme “Sleep care practices”. The theme was divided into three parts. First, the basic concepts in sleep, the notion of sleep phase distribution, and consequences of sleep deprivation were addressed. The second part included the explanation and stimulation for self-application of the Mini Sleep Questionnaire (MSQ) from the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). This MSQ questionnaire was selected because, in addition to being self-administered, it assesses the frequency of sleep-related complaints and the ESS Scale subjectively assesses excessive daytime sleepiness. Finally, the third and last part consisted of reflections on sleep hygiene, with tips on how to improve these behaviors and habits. Results: The interactive proposal based on practice in brainstorming, aimed to generate reflections to participants, seeking to highlight inappropriate points in their routines, in order to enable a new planning of behaviors related to habits that influence the various aspects of sleep hygiene. In eight days of making the video available on the aforementioned platform, 3,624 views and 388 likes were achieved. The total video time was 22 minutes and 20 seconds, with the first part having 5 minutes and 21 seconds, the second part with 6 minutes and 6 seconds and the third with 11 minutes. Conclusion: Through information and communication technologies it was possible to encourage and raise awareness of a considerable population with regard to practices favorable to quality sleep, in a short period of time.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The recent COVID-19 pandemic pointed out new burdens for researchers on mental health and that evidence-based (EB) studies on vulnerable populations are timely needed. The present paper aims at analysing the impact of suspicious of SARS-COV-2 infection in a cohort of parents presented at 3 major hospitals (spread between north and center of Italy) during the Italian COVID-19 pandemic phase 1. METHODS: Participants of the present cross-sectional, multicenter study were parental couples of children suspected to have COVID-19 who underwent testing with nasopharyngeal swabbing. All subjects were assessed by means of the: Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) in order to evaluate Post-traumatic stress (PTSS), anxiety, and depressive symptoms, respectively. OUTCOMES: Results evidenced that parents whose children tested positive for COVID-19 were more prone to developing PTSS, anxiety and depressive symptoms. The same results emerged for parents who had quarantined as opposed to those who had not. Moreover, patients who suffered economic damage showed a higher prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms, whereas PTSS was more common among unemployed subjects and among mothers. INTERPRETATION: This study identified a mental health strain represented by parenting a child who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Further EB research is needed to develop evidence-driven strategies to reduce adverse psychological impacts and related psychiatric symptoms in caregivers of COVID-19 infected children during the next phases of the pandemic.