Keywords
acute post-COVID-19 syndrome - actigraphy - sleep quality
Introduction: Long COVID, described by the persistence of symptoms after 3 months of the acute
phase of COVID-19 infection, is related to persistent symptoms such as anxiety, depression,
and fatigue. Furthermore, some studies show that there is a growing need to assess
the population's sleep health and circadian rhythms, which may be compromised and
influence other physiological and cognitive processes.
Objective: To objectively describe the sleep quality and efficiency parameters of individuals
with long COVID.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, carried out between January 2023 and August 2024.
It was approved by the Research Ethics Committee. Individuals aged ≥ 18 years and
diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed by RT-PCR were included. Individuals
with previous respiratory comorbidities and those who received oxygen supplementation
or noninvasive mechanical ventilation after hospitalization for COVID-19 were excluded.
Results: A total of 41 individuals with long COVID were included in the study. Of these, 32
were women (78%) with a mean age of 59.5 ± 2.45 years, while 9 were men (22%) with
a mean age of 53.89 ± 5.42 years. The objective measure of sleep measured by seven-day
actigraphy showed an overall sleep efficiency of 83% for the individuals, with an
average of 7.9 awakenings per night. Regarding the total time in bed, we identified
a time >8 h for women, while for men it was 7.6 h (p=0.55). Regarding the total sleep
time, 6.65 h for women and 6.75 h for the male group (p=0.89). The measure of sleep
efficiency was statistically lower for women (83%) compared to men (83%) with a value
of 0.02.
Conclusion: Individuals with long-term COVID-19 have suboptimal sleep efficiency, with an average
of 7.9 awakenings per night, highlighting significant changes in sleep quality. Furthermore,
although total bed and sleep time did not show significant differences between genders,
sleep efficiency was significantly lower for women, indicating a more pronounced impact
on sleep quality for this group.
