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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Sleep Sci 2022; 15(S 01): 41-48
DOI: 10.5935/1984-0063.20200121
ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Early impact on sleep and mental health during the mandatory social isolation of COVID-19 outbreak: an obser vational cross-sectional study carried out in Argentina

Authors

  • Stella Maris Valiensi

    1   Hospital Italiano, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Neurology-Sleep Medicine - Ciudad de Buenos Aires - Please select an option below - Argentina.

  • Agustín L. Folgueira

    1   Hospital Italiano, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Neurology-Sleep Medicine - Ciudad de Buenos Aires - Please select an option below - Argentina.

  • Arturo Garay

    2   Centro de Educación Médica e Investigaciones Clínicas “Norberto Quirno” (CEMIC), Neurology- Sleep Medicine – Ciudad de Buenos Aires – Please select an option below – Argentina.
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Introduction The mandatory social isolation (MSI) due to the pandemic caused by COVID-19 in the world produced many changes in sleep and different areas of mental health. Objectives: To evaluate the early effects of MSI on sleep, anxiety, and depression in Argentina.

Material and Methods An anonymous observational cross-sectional web-based study was distributed throughout the country and was completed by 2,594 respondents to analyze demographic information, quality of sleep, REM sleep-related events, depressive, and anxiety symptoms.

Results The study revealed that 53, 21, 22, 23, and 16% of people surveyed were poor sleepers, had dream-related behaviors, nightmares, depression, and anxiety symptoms, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression showed a positive correlation between anxiety, being a poor sleeper, and having nightmares.

Conclusion We identified the early effects of MSI on sleep quality, dreaming activity, anxiety, and depression in Argentina during the COVID-19 outbreak. Our findings can be used to formulate sleep and psychological interventions to improve mental health during the pandemic and post-pandemic times.

REM Sleep Parasomnias - Coronavirus Infections - Anxiety Disorders - Depression - Sleep - Social Isolation


Publication History

Received: 17 November 2020

Accepted: 08 March 2021

Article published online:
01 December 2023

© 2023. Brazilian Sleep Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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