The relation between sleep quality and work-related factors among employees of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union during the COVID-19 epidemic

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The COVID-19 epidemic and its measures, such as working from home, have had a significant impact on various aspects of people's lives and have contributed to the challenges of healthy and quality sleep. The aim of our study was to examine the characteristics of sleep of employees of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union (GSC). Specifically, we wanted to assess how sleep quality correlates with various work and mental health parameters, and whether Zoom fatigue was an important predictor of employee sleep quality during the COVID-19 epidemic. Method(s) This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted during the first half of summer 2021 when most employees were still working from home or in a hybrid work model. We invited employees of different directorates of the GSC to complete an online survey, with which we wanted to obtain some work-related information and to assess overall sleep quality (The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, PSQI), anxiety symptoms (The General Anxiety Disorder-7, GAD-7), and level of fatigue due to use of web-based tools - Zoom fatigue (The Zoom Exhaustion & Fatigue Scale, ZEF). Result(s) The online survey was completed by 201 participants (62 % female). The results show that almost half (46.8 %) slept less than the recommended minimum of 7 h per night and more than half (58.7 %) reported poor sleep quality. The statistical analyzes performed (correlation, regression analysis, and mediation) showed that sleep quality was significantly correlated with anxiety symptoms, Zoom fatigue, and mental connection with work after official working hours. Results also highlighted the importance of Zoom fatigue as a significant predictor of sleep quality, with anxiety as a mediator of the relationship between Zoom fatigue and sleep quality. Conclusion(s) Our results support previous findings that healthy sleep might be difficult to achieve during the COVID-19 epidemic. In our view, these preliminary results highlight the potential role of Zoom fatigue in predicting sleep quality during the COVID-19 epidemic. These findings could serve as a basis for further research on sleep, and work-related factors, particularly the hazards of long-term use of electronic devices for telework during the epidemic.