AWARENESS OF EPIDEMIOLOGY OF SLEEP DISORDERS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Introduction: COVID-19 is basically a RNA virus and the nucleic acid is about 30 kb long, positive in sense, single stranded and polyadenylated. Objectives: The main objective of the study is to find the awareness of epidemiology of sleep disorders during COVID-19 pandemic. Material and methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in RMC during October 2019 to March 2020. The data was collected through questionnaire. The questionnaire covered sleep conditions, stores of infection control supplies, mood and stress, usage of social media and sources of acquiring COVID-19 information, risk perception, and socio-demographic data. Results: The data was collected from 200 patients. About half of them were young-aged (55.0%) and married (49.1%). In terms of social media use, 57.8% spent more than 2 h per day. The majority were recruited from the more educated working population. With regard to sleep deterioration after the COVID-19 outbreak, the weighted proportions of those who reported worsening sleep quality, worsening sleep initiation, and shortened sleep duration were 38.3%, 29.8%, and 29.1%, respectively. The weighted prevalence of current clinical insomnia was estimated at 29.9%. Conclusion: It is concluded that COVID-19 is widely spreading in Pakistan and it effects on their sleep quality, sleep initiation, and sleep duration had worsened since the outbreak of COVID-1