Prevalence of sleep disturbance and anxiety due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Introduction:In the COVID-19 pandemic, physical and psychological health are of immense concern for the governing bodies and health policymakers in the period of lockdown and selfisolation. An in-depth analysis is required to recognize the changes in mental health among the public of different geographical areas. Objective: The study aimed to investigate the sleep quality and anxiety among the population in Saudi Arabia during the lockdown period from March to June 2020. Material and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study and surveyed the population in Saudi Arabia during the lockdown. We analyzed the anxiety and sleep quality in a population with variable socio-demographic profiles. We assessed anxiety using the self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) questionnaire and tested the sleep quality by using the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) questionnaire. We analysed the questionnaire responses to determine the relationships between anxiety, stress, sleep disturbances by using SPSS, and considered the p-value<0.05 statistically significant. Results: We collected 397 questionnaires from the participants. The respondents were mostly of youth age (19-24 years), 66.5% of respondents were male, while there were 33.5% females. Most of the participants did not contact any COVID-19 patients (75.1%, n=298). The finding revealed that most people did not consider associated anxiety as a worrying disorder as the vast majority were normal with only 12.6% had mild-to-moderate anxiety and almost 1% had moderate-to-severe anxiety. While correlating the sleep patterns disturbance in individuals who had contact with COVID-19 patients, there was a significant sleep disturbance. The disturbance of sleep was in having problems falling sleep (p-value=0.024), having bad/horrible dreams (p-value=0.017), feeling cold at sleeping (p-value=0.038), and difficulty staying active during eating or driving (p-value=0.012). There was a significant correlation with anxiety related to the COVID-19 contact and problems affecting the routine work (p-value=0.001). Conclusion: There is a significant correlation with anxiety related to the contact with COVID-19 positive patients and problems affecting the routine work among operational professionals. The sleep quality is poor due to the stay-at-home order, having a disorganized working schedule, and deprived lifestyle. The awareness regarding the publics' mental health related to the pandemic needs to be implemented and psychological guidelines ought to be available for the public. Health measures through the promotion of lifestyle modifications, mindful body practices, meditation, and home exercise can reduce stress and improve the quality of sleep.

An observatory on changes in dreaming during a pandemic: a living systematic review (part 1)

“…The NF was assessed by two studies as part of the PTSD symptomatology (Currie, 2021 ; Jiang et al, 2020 ) and as an independent index of psychological distress in adults, adolescences, and children in three studies (Ferraro et al, 2021 ; Musse et al, 2020 ; Reséndiz‐Aparicio, 2021 ). In a further 12 studies it was considered as an index of sleep impairment and poor sleep quality (Dondi et al, 2021 ; Goncalves et al, 2022 ; Goweda et al, 2020 ; Lin, Lin, et al, 2021 ; Parrello et al, 2021 ; Partinen et al, 2021 ; Pérez‐Carbonell et al, 2020 ; Petrov et al, 2021 ; Ramos Socarras et al, 2021 ; Scarpelli, Gorgoni, et al, 2022 ; Scarpelli, Nadorff, et al, 2022 ; Scarpelli, Alfonsi, et al, 2022 ; Schlarb et al, 2020 ), whereas in seven studies it was considered as a dreaming life phenomenon (Guerrero‐Gomez et al, 2021 ; Holzinger et al, 2021 ; Kennedy et al, 2021 ; Kilius et al, 2021 ; Pesonen et al, 2020 ; Scarpelli, Alfonsi, Gorgoni, et al, 2021 ; Scarpelli, Alfonsi, Mangiaruga, et al, 2021 ); five studies overlap nightmares with bad or threatening dreams, focusing attention on the content component (Guo & Shen, 2021 ; Iqbal et al, 2021 ; Korukcu et al, 2022 ; Solomonova et al, 2021 ; Yasmin et al, 2021 ); one study considered nightmares as a symptom of COVID‐19‐related stress (Taylor et al, 2020 ). At least, four studies referred specifically to ‘COVID‐19‐related nightmare frequency’ (Kennedy et al, 2021 ; Korukcu et al, 2022 ; Musse et al, 2020 ).…”

Generalized anxiety disorder and sleep quality during COVID-19 lockdown in Egypt: a web-based cross-sectional survey

“…On the contrary, a study performed in Saudi Arabia in 2020 revealed that most of respondents were normal where only 12.6% reported mild-to-moderate anxiety and nearly 1% reported moderate-to-severe anxiety. The same study showed that old age had more anxiety than younger age group [20].…”

An Analysis of Sleep Disturbances Interacting with Rumination and Childhood Adversity as a Longitudinal Predictor for Depression and Anxiety

“…A study done in Saudi Arabia showed that there was a significant correlation between COVID-related anxiety and problems affecting routine work. The same study also found that those who had associations with COVID-19 patients were more likely to experience sleep disturbances [13]. Thus, it can be concluded that COVID-19 exacerbated issues of sleep and anxiety in individuals who have associations with COVID-related work or COVIDaffected people.…”