Investigation of Sleep Quality of Healthcare Workers during the Covid-19 Pandemic Period

Abstract

Aim: This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between intense work tempo and sleep quality in hospital workers during the pandemic period. Material-method: Healthcare workers working in the hospital were included in our cross-sectional study. The data were collected using the Introductory Questionnaire, the Pandemic Evaluation Questionnaire and the Pistsburg Sleep Quality Index of the personnel actively involved in the pandemic process in the hospital. In the evaluation of the data; descriptive statistics, chi-square, correlation, t-test and ANOVA analysis were performed. Results: A total of 103 healthcare workers (Male: 36 (35%); Female: 67 (65%)) including nurses, healthcare technicians, doctors, administrative personnel and cleaning personnel participated in our study. The average tenure of the employees was 14.12±9.73 years. Body mass index (BMI) of health professionals was found to be male: 26.33±3.13 kg/m2, female: 24.07±3.70 kg/m2. The majority of health professionals participating in our study were in the Surgery Department (25 (24.3%), Intensive Care (19 (18.4%), Emergency Service (15 (14.6%)) and Administrative Department (13 (12.6%) The rest were working in the Laboratory (9 (8.7%), Covid-outpatient clinics (7 (6.8%)), Dialysis (5 (4.9%)). Pre-pandemic sleep disorder and accordingly the rate of drug use were found to be low. A significant correlation was found between the PUKI score and the frequency of sleep disturbance before the pandemic (r2=0.579; p=0.001) and the consumption of caffeinated beverages (r2=0.373; p=0.001). There was a statistically significant difference between nurses and cleaning staff in health professionals, and PUKI scores were found to be high in nurses (p=0.002). Conclusion: During the pandemic period, it was determined that the sleep quality of the hospital staff decreased with the increasing workload and negatively affected the lives of the health workers with the increasing anxiety levels.