Healthcare professionals' sleep and mental stress during the two first consecutive waves of COVID-19 in northern greece

ABSTRACT

Objectives/Introduction: In December 2019, a novel corona virus was identified (COVID-19). Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) experience high levels of stress and irregular work schedule, with frequent work shifts leading to increased sleep disturbances especially during the pandemic. This study aimed to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the healthcare workers' sleep and mental stress during two consecutive epidemic waves in northern Greece. Method(s) An online cross-sectional, anonymized, self-reported questionnaire survey was conducted in May 2020 (first epidemic wave) and then was repeated in December 2020 (second epidemic wave), including basic information (age, gender, marriage, education level, etc.), contact with COVID-19 patients, quarantine status, current physical condition, Sleep Condition Indicator (SCI), DAR-5 (anger), PHQ-4(depression and anxiety), Heaviness of Smoking Index (HSI) and Loneliness scale (LS). Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS (version-20 IBM, NY, USA). Continuous variables were presented as mean+/-SD and categorical variables as number (%). p < 0.05 was accepted as statistically significant. To separate parametric from non-parametric variables normality tests using the Kolmogorov- Smirnov test were performed. For the detection of statistically significant differences when comparing the results of a continuous variable between the two waves, the independent-samples-T-test and the Mann-Whitney-U-test were used for parametric and non-parametric variables respectively. Result(s) 1044 HCPs answered (males/females 47%/53%) 79% doctors with mean age 45.2 +/- 11.1 years. During the second wave HCPs presented worse sleep quality (SCI 23.7 +/- 6.7 vs.26.4 +/- 5.7, p < 0.001), worse PHQ-4 (4.4 +/- 2.9 vs. 2.8 +/- 2.3, p < 0.001), increased anger (DAR-5 9.2 +/- 3.8 vs.7.7 +/- 2.6, p < 0.001) and loneliness (LS 5.8 +/- 1.9 vs. 5 +/- 1.6, p < 0.001). The smoking status and HIS did not change during the two waves. A negative correlation was found between SCI - PHQ-4, SCI-DAR-5 and SCI- LS, especially during the second wave. Conclusion(s) Changes in sleep quality were observed in health professionals, especially during the second wave. Sleep quality, anger, depression, anxiety and loneliness were negatively affected during the progression of the pandemic.