ABSTRACT
Introduction: In this study, we aimed to evaluate how the COVID-19 pandemic has affect sleep patterns. To do this, we used the Functional Outcomes of Sleep Questionnaire (FOSQ10) tool among the general US population. Method(s): A Qualtrics survey containing the FOSQ10 questions and additional demographics was created for Amazon MTurk, a crowdsourcing platform. Respondents aged 18 years and older completed the survey anonymously in October 2021. Two-way analysis of variance and 2-tailed t tests were used for analyses. Result(s): A total of 2474 responses were included. The 3 most prevalent sleep disorders were snoring (48% of respondents), insomnia (11% of respondents), and sleep apnea/mild/ moderate/severe (6% of respondents). The 3 most common services and/or procedures that people indicated interest in were sleep study (32% of respondents), nasal appliance (28% of respondents), or oral appliance (22% of respondents). The 3 most common social media platforms used before bed were Facebook (48% of respondents), Instagram (47% of respondents), and YouTube (39% of respondents). Individuals who had COVID-19 had a lower average FOSQ10 score than those who did not (27.0+/-6.4 [SD] vs 29.2+/-7.2), P<.0001. Individuals who snore had a lower average FOSQ10 score than those who do not (27.6+/-6.6 vs 29.4+/-7.4), P<.0001. Individuals who had a romantic partner or family member complain about their sleeping pattern (restlessness, snoring, etc) had a lower average FOSQ10 score than those who do not (27.1+/-6.5 vs 30.0+/-7.3), P<.0001. Individuals who have seen an otolaryngologist about snoring or any other sleep-related problems had a lower average FOSQ10 score than those who have not (26.7+/-6.0 vs 29.4+/-7.4), P<.0001. Conclusion(s): A higher score on the FOSQ10 was found to be associated with better sleep outcomes. It is an appropriate tool for assessing functional outcomes of sleep in the US population and can be used by otolaryngologists to better understand and treat patients with impaired sleep.