Sleep Characteristics of Healthcare Professionals in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Duygu Zorlu*; Veysel Akca

**Duygu Zorlu* and Veysel Akca**

Volume2-Issue7
Dates: Received: 2021-07-17 | Accepted: 2021-07-25 | Published: 2021-07-26
Pages: 604-609

Abstract

Introduction: Sleep disturbances and anxiety are the first physical reflections observed in healthcare professionals. The aim was to reveal the sleep characteristics and moods of healthcare professionals during the pandemic for making improvements and provide support.

Methods: This study is observational and cross-sectional study and was carried out in a training and research hospital in Kirsehir, Turkey. A total of 48 nurses, 25 doctors, 37 assistant health personnel, 12 security guards, and 25 medical secretaries were included, of which 147 were healthcare professionals and 50 were not healthcare professionals (control group). Three questionnaires were used; two to measure sleep, one to measure stress. The volunteer participants were administered face-to-face Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale, and Beck Stress Scale (BSS) simultaneously and scored individually. These scores were evaluated separately for demographic characteristics and their association with occupational groups.

Results: A total of 197 people were included in the study, of which 147 were healthcare professionals, and 50 were not healthcare professionals (control group). The average age of the participants was 34.15 ± 9.18 years. The participants’ average PSQI (6.25 ± 3.24), ESS (7.46 ± 3.16), and BSS (11.26 ± 4.65) were calculated. The difference between the BSS (p < 0.01) and PSQI (p < 0.05) values of women and men was statistically significant. BSS and PSQI values were low in security guards. However, these values were high in nurses. The occupational experience of the participants in all three scales was not statistically significant. It was higher in the control group than the healthcare professional group. However, these differences between the groups were not statistically significant.

Discussion and Conclusion: In the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no difference in sleep and anxiety characteristics between health workers and non-health workers and the most common group of healthcare professionals with anxiety, sleep disorders was nurses. Based on the results, women and nurses between the ages of 31-35 should be given priority in support of healthcare professionals.

FullText HTML FullText PDF DOI: 10.37871/jbres1285

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How to cite this article

Zorlu D, Akca V. Sleep Characteristics of Healthcare Professionals in the COVID-19 Pandemic. J Biomed Res Environ Sci. 2021 July 26; 2(7): 604-609. doi: 10.37871/jbres1285, Article ID: JBRES1285, Available at: https://www.jelsciences.com/articles/jbres1285.pdf

Subject area(s)

Sleep Disorders

Pulmonology

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