Sleep Quality of Covid-19 Recovered Patients in India

The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in India was widespread and caused psychological distress among the citizens. Hospitals were running at a premium, increasing deaths and trepidation stories were on air by media, this generated sleep disturbances for many. This study aimed to examine the sleep quality of Covid-19 recovered patients in India during the second wave of the pandemic.

Patients who had recently recovered from Covid-19 were invited to participate in this cross-sectional study using various social media platforms. An online survey questionnaire, including socio-demographics, health-related information, Covid-19 related information, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), was administered in June 2021. Descriptive statistics were used to compare the scores among the mild, moderate, and severe groups. ANOVA was used to find the difference between the groups for global PSQI scores.

A total of 311 participants (261 mild, 45 moderate, and 5 severe) provided usable responses. The Global PSQI score for the overall study sample was 8.22 ± 3.79. In the severe group, scores were higher 16.8 ± 2.59, and statistically significant from mild or moderate groups. Sleep quality of Covid-19 recovered patients was found to be statistically significantly different based on their gender (P < .001), annual income (P < .001), employment status (P < .001), and marital status (P < .001).

Females, employment in the private sector, annual income below rupees 11 lakh, and unmarried Covid-19 recovered patients reported poor sleep quality. As our findings indicate poor sleep quality among the Covid-19 recovered patients during the second wave in India, designing psychological interventions is recommended to support their wellbeing post-recovery.