Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Mar 06, 2025 7 hours, 10 minutes ago
Medical News: Understanding the Impact of COVID-19 on Sleep Patterns
A new study conducted by researchers from the Sleep-Wake Epilepsy Center at the Department of Neurology in Inselspital University Hospital Bern, Switzerland, and the Neurology and Neurorehabilitation Center at Luzerner Kantonsspital, Switzerland, has found that many individuals suffering from post-COVID-19 syndrome experience severe sleep disturbances. These findings shed light on how long-term symptoms of COVID-19 are affecting sleep and overall well-being.
How the Study Was Conducted
The study involved 31 participants who had previously tested positive for COVID-19 and continued to experience symptoms such as fatigue and excessive daytime sleepiness even after recovering from the initial infection. Researchers assessed these individuals using various tools, including questionnaires, video polysomnography, multiple sleep latency tests, and actigraphy to measure sleep patterns. This
Medical News report highlights how these advanced sleep tracking methods provided a clear picture of how post-COVID-19 syndrome disrupts sleep cycles.
Participants in the study were mostly female, with an average age of 45 years, and had only mild cases of COVID-19 during their initial infection. Yet, months later, they continued to report extreme fatigue and daytime drowsiness. Results from the sleep assessments revealed several key issues, including increased sleep fragmentation, moderate sleep apnea, higher arousal levels, and inconsistent sleep patterns.
Key Findings on Sleep Disturbances
Fatigue and Sleepiness - Patients reported a median score of 6.33 on the Fatigue Severity Scale and 15 on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, indicating significant levels of fatigue and sleepiness.
Sleep Apnea - Moderate sleep apnea was detected in 35.5% of patients, with an apnea-hypopnea index above 15.
Frequent Nighttime Arousals - About 77.4% of participants showed an increased arousal index, meaning they frequently woke up during sleep.
Altered Sleep Structure - On average, sleep stages were divided as follows: NREM1 (12%), NREM2 (37%), NREM3 (19%), and REM (15.8%).
Daytime Sleepiness Measurement - The Multiple Sleep Latency Test revealed that only 13.3% of patients had significantly short sleep latencies under eight minutes, indicating limited objective sleepiness despite their subjective complaints.
Actigraphy Findings - Nearly 97% of patients had an increased inactivity index, indicating a tendency for prolonged rest periods throughout the day, which can further disrupt normal sleep patterns.
Why This Matters
The study suggests that sleep disturbances in post-COVID-19 patients are complex and multifaceted. While fatigue and sleepiness are common complaints among long COVID sufferers, the study found that objective measures of sleep dysfunction do not always align with patient-reported symptom
s. This highlights the need for deeper investigations into the neurological and physiological effects of long COVID on sleep cycles.
One of the most important discoveries was that many patients with post-COVID-19 syndrome had increased levels of arousal during sleep, which prevented them from getting restful sleep. Even in those who did not have severe sleep apnea, disrupted sleep patterns were still observed. Researchers believe that inflammation, immune response changes, and possibly even direct effects of the virus on the brain could be responsible for these disturbances.
Addressing the Sleep Challenges in Post-COVID-19 Syndrome
Since post-COVID-19 syndrome is a relatively new condition, doctors and researchers are still trying to find effective ways to help patients manage their symptoms. However, based on these findings, medical experts suggest that individuals suffering from ongoing fatigue and sleep disruptions should undergo sleep assessments and consider treatment for sleep apnea if diagnosed.
Proper sleep hygiene is also recommended, including maintaining a regular sleep schedule, reducing screen time before bed, avoiding caffeine late in the day, and incorporating relaxation techniques such as meditation or deep breathing exercises. Additionally, treating underlying depression or anxiety, which was also found in many study participants, may help improve sleep quality.
Conclusion
This research emphasizes the need to recognize sleep issues as a major component of post-COVID-19 syndrome. The findings suggest that a significant number of individuals continue to experience poor sleep quality even months after recovering from the initial infection. Addressing these sleep disturbances is critical in helping patients regain their energy and improve their overall health. As medical professionals learn more about the long-term impacts of COVID-19 on sleep, targeted interventions and treatment options will become more widely available.
The study findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal: Clinical and Translational Neuroscience.
https://www.mdpi.com/2514-183X/9/1/15
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https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/sleep-quality-and-long-covid-in-older-adults
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https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/italian-study-finds-that-covid-19-affects-sleep-quality
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