Search

Objective: /Background: The goal of the present study was to assess the prevalence and incidence of insomnia in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether, among those that contracted COVID-19, insomnia predicted worse outcomes (e.g., symptoms of greater frequency, duration, or severity)., Methods: A nationwide sample of 2980 adults living in the United States were surveyed online at two points during the COVID-19 pandemic (T1 = April-June 2020; T2 = January-March 2021). Insomnia symptoms were assessed at both time points using the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). The T2 survey also asked questions regarding COVID-19 testing and symptoms., Results: The prevalence of insomnia (defined as ISI ≥15) was 15% at T1 and 13% at T2. The incidence rate of insomnia (i.e., new cases from T1 to T2) was 5.6%. Participants with insomnia were not more likely to contract COVID-19 relative to those participants without insomnia. Among those participants in our sample that contracted the virus during the study interval (n = 149), there were no significant group differences in COVID-19 symptom outcomes, with one exception, participants with insomnia were more likely to report a longer symptom duration (insomnia = 24.8 sick days, no insomnia = 16.1 sick days)., Conclusions: The present study suggests the prevalence of insomnia in the U.S. population remained high during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data also support that insomnia may be related to experiencing more chronic COVID-19 symptoms. These findings have more general implications for the role of sleep and insomnia on immune functioning., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Emerging data suggests that COVID-19 is associated with fatigue well beyond the acute illness period. The present analysis aimed to: (1) characterize the prevalence and incidence of high fatigue at baseline and follow-up; (2) examine the impact of COVID-19 diagnosis on fatigue level following acute illness; and (3) examine the impact of acute COVID-19 symptom severity and duration on fatigue at follow-up. Subjects (n = 1417; 81.0% female; 83.3% White; X ¯ age = 43.6 years) completed the PROMIS-Fatigue during the initial wave of the pandemic at baseline (April–June 2020) and 9-month follow-up (January–March 2021). A generalized linear model (binomial distribution) was used to examine whether COVID-19 positivity, severity, and duration were associated with higher fatigue level at follow-up. Prevalence of high fatigue at baseline was 21.88% and 22.16% at follow-up, with 8.12% new cases at follow-up. Testing positive for COVID-19 was significantly associated with higher fatigue at follow-up. COVID-19 symptom duration and severity were significantly associated with increased fatigue at follow-up. COVID-19 symptom duration and severity during acute illness may precipitate longer-term fatigue, which could have implications for treatment planning and future research. Future studies should further evaluate the relationship between symptom severity, duration, and fatigue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social distancing was universally implemented to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Long-term social distancing can lead to increased feelings of social isolation or dissatisfaction with one's daily interpersonal interactions, which can subsequently result in reduced psychological health (e.g., greater depression). The present study quantified this association, and the extent to which it was moderated by measures of sleep and physical activity, by surveying 3658 adults (mean age = 46.0 years) from across the United States. Participants answered questions related to their social experiences, sleep, physical activity, and depressive symptoms during the early stages of the pandemic (March–June 2020). Results showed that social isolation and social dissatisfaction were associated with greater depressive symptoms. As predicted, self-reported sleep quality and physical activity moderated these associations, such that lower sleep quality and physical activity exacerbated their effect on depressive symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]