52% Indians surveyed say their sleep pattern has changed post COVID pandemic

July 15th, 2022, New Delhi: COVID-19 seems to be causing multiple long-term health issues in individuals even after recovery with disrupted sleep coming being reported as a common issue by people. New studies have now emerged that even after months or even a year after recovery from COVID, people might continue to face difficulty in getting a sound sleep no matter if they had a mild, moderate or severe COVID. Indians with symptomatic COVID have reported waking up in the middle of sleep, inability to sleep beyond 3-4 hours, with some even reporting panic attacks while asleep and excessive perspiration. Such disruptions lead to a person feeling drowsy throughout the day and in turn impact on their productivity. Sleep and COVID experts in have been quoted in the media citing that post-recovery of Omicron, cases of such sleep disruptions have increased.

There has been a sizable increase in conversations pertaining to sleep post COVID on LocalCircles in the last 30 months, with some sharing how they or someone in their social network are facing disorder in sleeping after getting infected by COVID. Taking cognisance of the issue, LocalCircles has conducted a survey to understand how many hours of uninterrupted sleep do citizens generally get at night. It then sought to know if there been any change in their sleep pattern in the last few years with COVID being prevalent. The survey received more than 32,000 responses from citizens across 322 districts of India. 61% respondents were men while 39% respondents were women. 49% respondents were from tier 1, 30% from tier 2 and 21% were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts.

Impact of COVID on sleep: 1 in 2 Indians is getting less than 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night; 1 in 4 is sleeping less than 4 hours

The first question in the survey asked households, “How many hours of uninterrupted sleep do you generally get at night?”. In response, only 6% said “8-10 hours”, 38% said “6-8 hours”, 27% said “4-6 hours” and 23% said “Up to 4 hours”. 6% couldn’t say. On an aggregate basis, 1 in 2 Indians is getting less than 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night; 1 in 4 is sleeping less than 4 hours. This question received 20,549 responses.

52% citizens surveyed say their sleep pattern has changed post the COVID pandemic

The next question in the survey asked citizens, “Has there been any change in your sleep pattern in the last few years with COVID being prevalent?” In response, the majority, 52% citizens surveyed said “Yes, my sleep pattern has changed with COVID being prevalent”. On the other hand, 48% said “No, my sleep is the same after COVID pandemic as it was before”. This question received 11,541 responses.

Post COVID pandemic, people are struggling with sleep; reduced duration of uninterrupted sleep, sleep apnea, trouble going to sleep or needing more hours are some issues reported

The final question asked citizens, “Has there any change in your sleep pattern in the last few years with COVID being prevalent?” In response, post having COVID, 7% of citizens said “Yes, my uninterrupted sleep duration has reduced”, 7% said “Yes, I have developed apnea and sleep gets frequently disrupted”, 8% said “Yes, my sleep requirements have increased”, and 7% said “Yes, I have trouble going to sleep in the first place”. Breaking down the poll, though they haven’t got COVID, 15% of citizens said “Yes, my uninterrupted sleep duration has reduced”, 7% said “I have developed sleep apnea and sleep gets frequently disrupted”, 8% said “My sleep requirements have increased”, 3% said “I have trouble going to sleep in the first place”. Furthermore, 10% of citizens said “Yes, my sleep has become more irregular for reasons other than COVID”. On an aggregate basis, post COVID pandemic, people are struggling with sleep, reduced duration of uninterrupted sleep, sleep apnea, trouble going to sleep or needing more hours are some issues reported. This question received 6,001 responses.

To summarise, the findings of the survey clearly establish that COVID has indeed had an impact on quality of sleep of Indians. This is evident with 1 in 2 Indians surveyed saying that they are getting less than 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night, whereas, 1 in 4 is sleeping less than 4 hours. Furthermore, 52% of citizens surveyed saying their sleep pattern has changed post the COVID pandemic. Citizens surveyed say post the COVID pandemic, people are struggling with sleep, or are getting reduced duration of uninterrupted sleep, facing sleep apnea, trouble going to sleep, or need more hours to sleep were some common issues reported. More research is needed on what people are experiencing and what can be done to address this during the COVID and post COVID recovery phase. Sleep experts say adults must get 7 or more hours of sleep each night for good health and longevity and the results of the survey indicate that half of our population isn’t getting the same and is at risk.