Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jul-Sep;25(3):126-133.

Sleep quality and associated factors in the context of COVID-19, among prehospital emergency personnel, in North-Eastern Greece

A Arvaniti  1 , P Steiropoulos  2 , Ch Panousis  1 , E Kalamara  1 , M Samakouri  1 , T Constantinidis  3 , E Nena  3   4
Affiliations

Sleep quality and associated factors in the context of COVID-19, among prehospital emergency personnel, in North-Eastern Greece

A Arvaniti et al. Hippokratia. 2021 Jul-Sep.

Abstract

Background: The stressful conditions that emerged during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have had a negative impact on sleep quality in large part of the healthcare worker population. This study aimed to assess the self-reported quality of sleep among members of the Emergency Ambulance Service personnel of the National Emergency Center in the region of Thrace, Northeastern Greece, and to investigate its associations with perceived stress, feelings, and perceptions of well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: The study was conducted from March to May 2021 using an online structured questionnaire, and the collected data included: socio-demographic characteristics, occupational and medical history, distress and mental health issues due to COVID-19 and the following self-administrated instruments: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), WHO-5 Well-Being Index (WHO-5), and Perceived Stress Scale-14 items (PSS-14).

Results: Among the 74 participants, 71 % were poor sleepers (i.e., PSQI >5). The majority (83 % of the sample) reported feelings of stigma due to their occupation, with the proportion being higher among women (100 % vs 78 % in men, p =0.05) and poor sleepers (95 % vs 65 % in good sleepers, p =0.03). Poor sleepers had significantly lower WHO-5 scores than good sleepers (13.8 ± 4.9 vs 16.9 ± 5.8, p =0.04) and were experiencing significantly more anxiety and/or sadness at the time they answered the questionnaire (69.1 % vs 35.3 %, p =0.02). Perceived stress was significantly positively correlated with the "Latency" dimension of the PSQI (p =0.03).

Conclusions: Poor sleep quality and feelings of stigmatization were prevalent for most of the sample. Poor sleep quality was associated more frequently with reported feelings of stigmatization, anxiety and/or sadness, and impaired well-being. HIPPOKRATIA 2021, 25 (3):126-133.

Keywords: COVID-19; Front-line health workers; mental health; pandemic; sleep quality.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Abbas A, Al-Otaibi T, Gheith OA, Nagib AM, Farid MM, Walaa M. Sleep Quality Among Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Medical Errors: Kuwait Experience. Turk Thorac J. 2021;22:142–148. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rasch B, Born J. About sleep’s role in memory. Physiol Rev. 2013;93:681–766. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Akerstedt T, Fredlund P, Gillberg M, Jansson B. A prospective study of fatal occupational accidents -- relationship to sleeping difficulties and occupational factors. J Sleep Res. 2002;11:69–71. - PubMed
    1. Magnavita N, Garbarino S. Sleep, Health and Wellness at Work: A Scoping Review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2017;14:1347. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jahrami H, BaHammam AS, Bragazzi NL, Saif Z, Faris M, Vitiello MV. Sleep problems during the COVID-19 pandemic by population: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Clin Sleep Med. 2021;17:299–313. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources