Assessment of Sleep Quality in Healthcare Workers as Part of the COVID-19 Outbreak

ABSTRACT

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the sleep quality and affceting factors of the healthcare professionals working in our hospital during the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Materials and Methods: One hundred fifty-two healthcare professionals, 95 females and 57 males working during the COVID-19 pandemic, were included in our study. In the study, the factors affecting sleep quality were statistically evaluated by using the patients' demographic features, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Fatigue Severity Scale, and Beck Anxiety and Beck Depression Scale. Results: According to the PSQI results, the participants of our study were divided into two groups as PSQI >= 5 (n=109, 71.7%) and PSQI <5 (n=43, 28.1%). In the group with poor sleep quality (PSQI >= 5), there were more females (p=0.003), the average age was younger (p=0.013), and the rate of anxiety and depression was higher (p<0.001 and p<0.001). Conclusion: According to the results of our study, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the quality of sleep of the healthcare staff was significantly impaired. The health of health professionals is also important in this long process. Practices for improving the quality of sleep of healthcare staff will contribute to the long-term struggle by strengthening the immune system in the fight of health workers against the virus.