Subjective sleep quality before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in a Brazilian rural population

Objectives: Prior studies have examined sleep during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, but have few compared sleep measured both during and prior to COVID. We examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on subjective sleep quality in general and separately by gender and age (<50 vs. >50 years). Further, we compared sleep quality between those who did and did not follow quarantine orders. Methods: This sample is from the Baependi Heart Study, a family-based cohort of adults in South-eastern Bra-zil. Longitudinal data were from 417 individuals who completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) twice: between January 2010 and September 2014 (pre-COVID) and during the COVID-19 stay-at-home order March-June, 2020. Cross-sectional analysis included 800 participants. Results: Mean (+/- SD) PSQI scores were significantly higher during than before COVID-19 (5.7 +/- 3.8 vs. 5.0 +/- 3.3, p < .01). This increase was significant among women and among adults >50 years but not in men or younger adults. The significant increase in PSQI was only observed in those who quarantined during COVID-19 (5.9 +/- 3.7 vs. 5.2 +/- 3.4, p < .01) and not those who did not quarantine (5.0 +/- 3.7 vs. 4.5 +/- 3, p = .12). In cross-sectional analyses, individuals who quarantined had higher PSQI scores than nonquarantined individu-als (6.1 +/- 3.9 vs. 5.0 +/- 3.5, p < .01). The quarantine status-dependent differences were significant for women (6.4 +/- 4 vs. 5.2 +/- 3.7, p < .01) and older adults (6.6 +/- 0.1 vs. 5.5 +/- 3.3, p = .04). Differences by quarantine sta-tus were attenuated after adjusting for age and gender. Conclusions: Subjective sleep quality declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among women, older adults, and those compliant to quarantine orders. (c) 2021 National Sleep Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Sleep quality declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among women, older adults, and those compliant to quarantine orders.