Insomnia and Associated Social Factors among Medical Support Staff during the Covid-19 Pandemic

The pandemic Covid-19 not only caused great public health problems but also caused enormous distress, especially for medical staff. The cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the prevalence rate of insomnia and to confirm the social factors among medical support staff in hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic from 1st July 2020 to December 31st 2020. This study was conducted at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), Kurmitola General Hospital (KGH), Kuwait Bangladesh Friendship Government Hospital and Mugda Medical College and Hospital located at Dhaka and Tungipara UHC from Tungipara, Gopalganj, Bangladesh. Medical support staff in the Dhaka division was recruited. The face-to-face interview was conducted, obtained demographic data and asked self-design questions related to the Covid-19 pandemic and insomnia. Chi-square analysis was done to examine the associations between socio-demographic factors and insomnia symptoms. There were a total of 289 participants in our study. Participants 53(19.4%) had insomnia symptoms according to the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) (total score ≥8). The chi-square test revealed that insomnia symptoms were associated with uncertainty in effective disease control (p=0.000, OR = 3.377, 95% CI = 1.842 - 6.189), worry about getting infected (p=0.001, OR = 2.748, 95% CI = 1.457 - 5.181). This study found that nearly one-fifth of the medical support staff suffered insomnia symptoms during the Covid-19 pandemic. The related factors included uncertainty in effective disease control and worry about getting infected.