In recent research, study authors have examined the effect of COVID-19 on the sleep patterns of healthcare workers and the possibly impairing consequences of sleep disruption on their mental health.
As indicated in a Mid-Day report, the new study found that healthcare workers who have a poor sleep were twice more likely to complain of symptoms of depression than their "better-rested colleagues." More so, they were 50 percent more likely to say they are going through psychological distress, and 70 percent more possible to complain they are going through anxiety.
According to Marwah Abdalla, MD, lead author of the study, at the moment, a large percentage of health care workers are quitting their jobs due to stress, generating a shortage of health care workers nationwide.
Abdalla, the assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, added that with fewer workers on the job, the remaining staff needs to work more and on extended shifts, aggravating their sleep problems and stress.
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Poor sleep affects patient care and can increase medical errors, explained Abdalla, although it may trigger depression and anxiety symptoms.
Healthcare Workers' Reaction to Stress Examined
It is barely news that healthcare workers have been undergoing immense stress during this global health crisis, something Abdalla, a Columbia University Irving Medical Center cardiologist, has witnessed firsthand since early last year.
As a physician-scientist, she created a team to investigate the reactions to the stress of healthcare workers, with a special emphasis on the effects of a pandemic on sleep.
Specifically, during the first peek of the pandemic in New York City, Abdalla, together with her colleagues, carried out a series of surveys of healthcare workers' sleep habits, as well as their psychological symptoms, Your Health Town said in a similar report.
The group's first paper, published in the Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, summarized the sleep data, presenting that more than 70 percent of healthcare workers had at least moderate symptoms of insomnia during the initial peak of the pandemic.
Poor Sleep
Even though that number dropped alongside case counts of COVID-19, almost four in 10 still suffered from symptoms of insomnia ten weeks after when the first wave of the virus was over, and schedules of work had gone back to more normal levels.
Poor sleep not just affects patient care, but can increase medical errors, explained Abdalla, although it may trigger depression and anxiety symptoms.
In the second research, the study investigators discovered that healthcare workers who reported experiencing poor sleep also reported higher stress, depression, and anxiety levels compared to healthcare workers who had a better sleep.
Even though depression, stress, and anxiety can arise among well-rested people, sleep is vital to mental health, and there is a bidirectional association, said Abdalla.
Effect of Sleep Problem on Mental Health
While it is still unknown from this research if psychological distress itself resulted in poor sleep or if poor sleep caused psychological distress among the healthcare workers, enhancing sleep can lessen "psychological problems and vice versa," she elaborated.
According to a similar Hindustan Times report, the study's lead author added if future research can tease apart this relationship's direction, as well as the effect of poor sleep on mental health for health care workers during the COVID-19 crisis, there may be numerous potential interpolations, from cognitive-behavioral treatment for insomnia to increasing break room rest sites, and, or, installing nap pods for staff of hospitals to utilize during long shifts.
She added that those who might be deprived of sleep are encouraged to lie down for 20 or 30 minutes. Improved sleep will not ease all the added stress that healthcare workers face, although it may help to enhance physical and mental health.
Lastly, explained the study's lead author, previous studies have shown that sleep trouble may increase one's risk for chronic illnesses like heart disease, dementia, cancer, and diabetes.
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