Sleep Quality, Excessive Daytime Sleepiness, Pulmonar Function and Exercise Tolerance in Hospitalized and no Hospitalized Subjects with COVID-19

Shirley Nogueira de Souza; Karla Michelle de Lima Alves; Luciana Moraes Studart Pereira; Anna Myrna Jaguaribe de Lima

doi:10.1055/s-0045-1811844

Sleep Science, Table of Contents

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Sleep Sci 2024; 17(S 01): S1-S89
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1811844

Sleep Science Supplement 2024

Sleep Quality, Excessive Daytime Sleepiness, Pulmonar Function and Exercise Tolerance in Hospitalized and no Hospitalized Subjects with COVID-19

Authors

Shirley Nogueira de Souza

¹Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil
Karla Michelle de Lima Alves

¹Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil
Luciana Moraes Studart Pereira

¹Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil
Anna Myrna Jaguaribe de Lima

²Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil

Abstract

Full Text

Keywords

Post-COVID-19 syndrome - sleep - pulmonary function - exercise tolerance

Introduction: Individuals infected with COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, have exhibited persistent symptoms such as chronic muscle fatigue, cough, dyspnea, and insomnia after the acute phase of the infection, which characterize Long COVID. In severe cases, patients may require hospitalization and/or outpatient follow-up to treat sequelae that cause some functional limitations. Objective: To compare sleep quality (SQ), excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), pulmonary function (PF), and exercise tolerance (ET) between hospitalized and non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients

Objective: To compare sleep quality (SQ), excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), pulmonary function (PF), and exercise tolerance (ET) between hospitalized and non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Methods: A cross-sectional study evaluating post-COVID-19 patients with respect to SQ, using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), EDS using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), PF (spirometry), and ET using the 6-minute walk test (6MWT). The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee (approval number 4,560,471). Independent samples t-tests were used to compare the groups, with p<0.05 considered as the level of statistical significance. Data are presented as means, standard deviations, and frequency distributions.

Results: Eighty-three COVID-19 patients were analyzed, with the majority being female (56.6%), aged 45.6 ± 12.8 years, and with a BMI of 28.1 ± 4.6 kg/m². Among the patients, 78.3% (n=65) were not hospitalized, 10.8% (n=9) were hospitalized for up to 10 days, and 10.8% (n=9) were hospitalized for more than 10 days. There were no differences between the groups (hospitalized vs. non-hospitalized) for SQ (6.9 ± 3.1 vs. 6.9 ± 3.4; p=0.706), EDS (8.8 ± 5.9 vs. 8.6 ± 3.8; p=0.807), or PF (FEV1: 4.3 ± 6.5 l vs. 2.9 ± 0.2 l; p=0.728 / FVC: 3.6 ± 1.4 l vs. 3.43 ± 1.0 l; p=0.484 / FEV1/FVC: 82.6 ± 12 vs. 84.1 ± 8.9; p=0.889). However, ET was higher in the non-hospitalized group compared to the hospitalized group (106.3 ± 30.9 steps vs. 82.8 ± 45.1 steps; p=0.048).

Conclusion: In this study, there were no differences between the hospitalized and non-hospitalized COVID-19 groups in terms of SQ, EDS, and PF. Both groups had poor sleep quality, excessive daytime sleepiness, and impaired pulmonary function. However, the non-hospitalized group showed greater exercise tolerance.