AUTHOR=Xia Lei , Chen Changhao , Liu Zhiqiang , Luo Xiangfen , Guo Chunyan , Liu Zhiwei , Zhang Kai , Liu Huanzhong 

TITLE=Prevalence of Sleep Disturbances and Sleep Quality in Chinese Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.646342

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2021.646342

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Objectives:</bold> Healthcare workers (HWs) experienced high levels of work stress during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a high risk of sleep disturbances. This meta-analysis aimed to explore the prevalence of sleep disturbances and sleep quality in Chinese HWs during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> English (PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library) and Chinese databases (WanFang, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, and SinoMed) were systematically and independently searched for relevant studies published from December 1, 2019, to May 20, 2020. The pooled prevalence of sleep disturbances and sleep quality were calculated using a random-effects model.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> A total of 17 studies involving 12,682 Chinese HWs were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of sleep disturbances in Chinese HWs was 45.1% (95% CI: 37.2–53.1%). We found that the prevalence of sleep disturbances varied among frontline, infected, and non-frontline HWs (<italic>Q</italic> = 96.96, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001); females and males (<italic>Q</italic> = 9.10, <italic>p</italic> = 0.003); studies using different assessment instruments (<italic>Q</italic> = 96.05, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001); and studies with different sample sizes (<italic>Q</italic> = 5.77, <italic>p</italic> = 0.016) and cut-off values (<italic>Q</italic> = 62.28, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001). The pooled mean total score of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was 9.83 (95% CI: 8.61–11.04). HWs in Wuhan had a higher total PSQI score than those in other regions (<italic>Q</italic> = 9.21, <italic>p</italic> = 0.002).</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> Sleep disturbances were common in Chinese HWs during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in frontline and infected HWs. Our results indicate the heavy mental health burden on HWs during the COVID-19 pandemic in China and can provide other countries with valuable information to assist HWs during the crisis.</p>