ABSTRACT
Introduction: The COVID-19 infection rapidly became a worldwide pandemic and a public health emergency that seriously burdened healthcare systems. Health care professionals (HCPs) were faced with a new difficult and demanding challenge which frequently meant working long h shifts with low staffing members under high pressure environments. This may have had an important impact on sleep quality of HCPs. Aim(s): To evaluate the quality of sleep of HCPs after 3 waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Method(s): A sleep questionnaire developed by the authors was sent to all HCPs of a tertiary hospital after the first 3 waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Result(s): We had a total of 651 participants, mostly female (81.3%). Most participants were nurses (38.1%) and doctors (19.1%), with ages between 30 and 50 years. Other HCPs included were technicians, assistants, pharmaceuticals, among others. The majority dealt directly with COVID-19 patients (73.7%). Concerning quality of sleep, a significant proportion of HCPs referred a bad or very bad quality of sleep (41.5%) and only 16.1% stated a good or very good quality of sleep, of the last, 57% did not work night shifts. The majority suffered from night awakenings (88.6%), with 38.2% referring more than 2 awakenings per night;of these, 65% stated difficulty falling back to sleep. Furthermore, 46.2% HCPs referred initial insomnia and 59.9% referred terminal insomnia. Regarding quantity of sleep 16.9% slept less than 5 h, 47.3% slept approximately 6 h and only 7% slept 8 or more hours. Approximately 33% of HCPs resorted to sleeping medication, most frequently anxiolytics. In reference to daily symptoms, 71.3% of HCPs stated daytime sleepiness, most frequently after lunch (50.5%). Nonetheless, a significant proportion mentioned sleepiness during work (24%), and while driving (14.3%). Finally, 50.4% of the HCPs considered that the 3 waves of the COVID-19 pandemic worsened their sleep quality. Conclusion(s): This analysis demonstrates concerning results regarding the quality of sleep of HCPs after the first 3 waves of the COVID-19 pandemic with important daytime repercussions. This may reflect a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, as half of the HCPs considered that that the pandemic worsened their sleep quality.