Changes in Sleep Patterns During COVID-19 in South Korea

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant changes in how people live their daily lives. To keep the virus from spreading, many countries imposed lockdowns and encouraged people to stay apart from each other. These measures greatly affected social lives and led to the closure of schools and workplaces, which may have caused stress and anxiety for many.

During this time, the role of sleep in maintaining both physical and mental health became increasingly important. Good sleep is essential for a functioning immune system and helps lower the chances of getting sick. On the other hand, not enough sleep-or sleeping too much-can lead to various health issues like high blood pressure, heart problems, and increased chances of dying. Moreover, sleep issues such as oversleeping and lack of sleep are often linked to feelings of sadness and other mental health problems. Therefore, it became vital to look at how sleep was affected during the pandemic.

Various studies have reported changes in Sleep Duration during the pandemic. Research conducted in the United States and several European countries found that people began sleeping more after the COVID-19 outbreak began in early 2020. Specifically, people in major cities like London, Los Angeles, New York City, Seoul, and Stockholm were found to be sleeping longer than they did during the same months in the previous year. Many individuals reported sleeping for more than the recommended seven hours per night.

Furthermore, sleep duration during the pandemic varied among different groups of people. Earlier studies showed that sleep patterns differed based on age and gender, but the results were not always the same. Other factors, such as education and where people live, also played a role. For instance, people with Higher Education or those living in urban areas tended to sleep more during this time, though the influences of employment status were not clear-cut.

Most of the research on sleep and COVID-19 has been conducted in the initial stages of the pandemic in 2020, and many of these studies did not include the entire population of a country. While sleep duration can vary greatly based on personal and community factors, this aspect has not been thoroughly explored. Hence, a study aimed to examine how sleep patterns changed in South Korea during the longer period of the pandemic (2020 and 2021) and to see if any disparities existed across different groups.

#Study Design and Participants

This study focused on how people's sleep duration changed during the pandemic (2020-2021) compared to the three years before it (2017-2019). Participants were selected from the Korea Community Health Survey, a large national health study that collects information from adults living in all areas of South Korea. A total of 1,143,460 people participated from 2017 to 2021, but those who did not answer questions regarding daily sleep were excluded from the analysis.

#Measuring Sleep Duration

In the health survey, participants were asked how many hours they usually sleep each day. During 2017-2019, they provided a single answer for their sleep duration. However, during 2020-2021, they had to answer separately for weekdays and weekends. The average sleep duration was calculated based on both answers to get a complete picture.

#Other Factors to Consider

To understand the impact of various factors on sleep changes, the study looked at several individual characteristics, such as age, gender, Health Status, smoking and drinking habits, income, education level, marital status, and whether they lived alone or had conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes.

Additionally, the researchers examined Community Characteristics, including the number of apartments in each area, mental health counseling rates, local taxes, green space (measured through the normalized difference vegetation index), exercise rates, and the number of bars per 1,000 people. These factors were believed to affect sleep quality and duration.

#Analyzing the Data

The analysis took place in two steps. First, the researchers compared sleep duration during the pandemic years to the years before it, using advanced statistical models to account for various factors. They also adjusted for changes over time to ensure a clear understanding of how sleep patterns evolved.

Second, they pooled the data from all districts to calculate an overall change in sleep duration and examined how community characteristics played a role in these changes.

#Results of the Study

The findings showed that the average sleep duration increased during the pandemic years. Specifically, it rose from about 6.61 hours per day before the pandemic to 6.82 hours in 2020 and 6.72 hours in 2021. This change was more pronounced in certain groups like younger adults, employed individuals, and those with higher incomes and education levels.

Further analysis revealed that the proportion of apartments in a district was positively associated with increased sleep duration. This suggests that urban areas, where more people live in apartments, experienced greater changes in sleep patterns. Interestingly, areas with more green space and higher rates of moderate exercise seemed to have less of an increase in sleep duration.

In 2020, participants reported an average increase of about 9.66 minutes of sleep per day compared to the pre-pandemic period, whereas the increase was smaller in 2021, at around 3.66 minutes. This trend suggests that as the pandemic continued, people adjusted and their sleep patterns began to stabilize.

#Disparities in Sleep Duration

The analysis also pointed out that males and younger adults had a more significant increase in sleep duration compared to the rest of the population. This may be because men often have more demanding work schedules and may have experienced a more considerable shift in their daily routines due to lockdowns. Similarly, younger individuals, who generally lead more active social lives, likely saw a more dramatic change in their daily activities due to restrictions.

Higher socioeconomic groups tended to report a more considerable increase in sleep duration. This may be tied to the fact that individuals in higher income brackets were more likely to work from home and have jobs that allowed them to adapt their schedules more easily to the lockdown lifestyle.

#Limitations of the Study

Despite the valuable insights gained from this study, there are some limitations. The data on sleep duration were dependent on self-reports, which can sometimes be inaccurate. Furthermore, since the survey was cross-sectional, it does not allow for determining cause and effect. Lastly, the study only focused on sleep duration and did not include other aspects of sleep quality, like how well people slept or how long it took them to fall asleep, which could be important for future studies.

#Conclusion

In summary, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted sleep duration among adults in South Korea. On average, people reported sleeping more during the pandemic, though the increase was smaller in 2021 compared to 2020. This change was more significant among certain groups, particularly males, younger adults, and those with higher incomes and education levels.

Additionally, districts with a higher number of apartments saw a larger increase in sleep duration, while areas with more green space and higher exercise rates had a smaller increase. These findings underscore the importance of considering individual and community characteristics when addressing sleep health during challenging times like a pandemic.