Impact of COVID-19 on eating habits, physical activity and sleep in Brazilian healthcare professionals

Mota, Isabella Araújo; Oliveira Sobrinho, Gilberto Diniz de; Morais, Iuara Paiva Silva; Dantas, Thamires Ferreira

doi:10.1590/0004-282X-ANP-2020-0482

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Article • Arq. Neuro-Psiquiatr. 79 (5) • May 2021 • https://doi.org/10.1590/0004-282X-ANP-2020-0482 copy

Impact of COVID-19 on eating habits, physical activity and sleep in Brazilian healthcare professionals

Impacto da COVID-19 nos hábitos alimentares, atividade física e sono em profissionais de saúde brasileiros

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

Background:

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Brazilian healthcare professionals could have been experiencing impacts on their routine, behavior and mental health.

Objective:

To investigate changes in the daily life and sleeping habits of healthcare professionals in Brazil.

Methods:

We conducted an observational and cross-sectional study from May to July 2020. A Google Forms questionnaire was made available to Brazilian healthcare professionals on the WhatsApp mobile application and through the website of the Brazilian Hospital Services Company.

Results:

The sample (n=710) was mostly composed of women (80.8%), aged between 30 and 40 years old (46.6%), predominantly physicians (41.8%) and residing mostly in the state of Paraíba (66.9%), Brazil. Approximately two-thirds of the total sample had some sleep-related complaints, 25.8% due to difficulty initiating sleep, 29.6% due to difficulty staying asleep and 32.5% due to early morning waking. From the population studied, 28.7% (n=204) reported the use of insomnia medication, and 60.3% (n=123) of these were self-medicating. Some participants reported a change in diet (n=557; 78.5%), especially related to the increase in carbohydrate intake (n=174; 24.5%), and 27% (n=192) of the individuals reported an increase of the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Of the total, 561 (81.8%) reported a change in the practice of physical activity.

Conclusion:

In this study, Brazilian healthcare professionals showed aspects of quality of life that were more affected during the COVID-19 pandemic than the prevalence seen in surveys of international studies for the general population.

Keywords
Coronavirus; Eating Habits; Physical Activity; Mental Health; Healthcare Professionals

		n	%
Sex
	Women	574	80.8
	Men	136	19.2
Age range
	20–30 years old	159	22.4
	30–40 years old	331	46.6
	40–50 years old	138	19.4
	50–60 years old	59	8.3
	Over 60 years old	23	3.2
Physician		297	41.8
Other healthcare professionals		413	58.2
	Social worker	12	1.7
	Biomedical professional	5	0.7
	Dentist	15	2.1
	Nurse	96	13.5
	Pharmacist	13	1.8
	Physiotherapist	79	11.1
	Speech therapist	39	5.5
	Nutritionist	33	4.6
	Psychologist	21	3.0
	Laboratory technician	1	0.1
	Radiology technician	1	0.1
	Nursing technician	73	10.3
	Occupational therapist	13	1.8
State of professional activity
	Amazonas	4	0.6
	Bahia	4	0.6
	Ceará	8	1.1
	Distrito Federal	15	2.1
	Espírito Santo	1	0.1
	Goiás	9	1.3
	Maranhão	6	0.8
	Mato Grosso	12	1.7
	Mato Grosso do Sul	2	0.3
	Minas Gerais	10	1.4
	Pará	4	0.6
	Paraíba	475	66.9
	Paraná	25	3.5
	Pernambuco	31	4.4
	Piauí	9	1.3
	Rio de Janeiro	6	0.8
	Rio Grande do Norte	24	3.4
	Rio Grande do Sul	1	0.1
	Roraima	1	0.1
	Santa Catarina	4	0.6
	São Paulo	58	8.2
	Sergipe	1	0.1

	None		Mild		Moderate		Severe		Very severe
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
Difficulty falling asleep	183	25.8	210	29.6	215	30.3	68	9.6	34	4.8
Difficulty staying asleep	210	29.6	215	30.3	195	27.5	68	9.6	22	3.1
Problems waking up too early	231	32.5	176	24.8	186	26.2	78	11.0	39	5.5
	Very satisfied		Satisfied		Moderately satisfied		Dissatisfied		Very dissatisfied
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
How satisfied/dissatisfied are you with your current sleep pattern?	42	5.9	190	26.8	87	12.3	300	42.3	91	12.8
	Not at all noticeable		A little		Somewhat		Much		Very much noticeable
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
How noticeable to others do you think your sleep problem is in terms of impairing the quality of your life?	55	7.7	137	19.3	163	22.9	287	40.4	68	9.6
	Not at all worried		A little		Somewhat		Much		Very much worried
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
How worried/distressed are you about your current sleep problem	88	12.4	104	14.6	371	52.2	113	15.9	34	4.8
	Not at all interfering		A little		Somewhat		Much		Very much interfering
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
To what extent does your sleep problem interfere with your daily functioning (e.g., daytime fatigue, mood, ability to function at work/daily chores, concentration, memory, mood, etc.) currently?	69	9.7	112	15.8	205	28.9	248	34.9	76	10.7
Score categories	No clinically significant insomnia		Subthreshold insomnia		Clinical insomnia (moderate severity)		Clinical insomnia (severe)		Total
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
	178	25.1	246	34.6	236	33.2	50	7.1	710	100

Variable		Physicians (n=297)					Other healthcare professionals (n=413)					p-value^* * Pearson’s chi-square test; statistical significance p<0.05;
Variable		N	Mi	Mo	S	VS	N	Mi	Mo	S	VS
Difficulty falling asleep	n	94	99	73	22	9	89	111	142	46	25	0.0001^ statistical significance p<0.05.
Difficulty falling asleep	%	31.6%	33.3%	24.6%	7.4%	3.0%	21.5%	26.9%	34.4%	11.1%	6.1%	0.0001^ statistical significance p<0.05.
Difficulty staying asleep	n	105	100	66	20	6	105	115	129	48	16	0.001^ statistical significance p<0.05.
Difficulty staying asleep	%	35.4%	33.7%	22.2%	6.7%	2.0%	25.4%	27.8%	31.2%	11.6%	3.9%	0.001^ statistical significance p<0.05.
Problems waking up too early	n	106	73	74	28	16	125	103	112	50	23	0.553
Problems waking up too early	%	35.7%	24.6%	24.9%	9.4%	5.4%	30.3%	24.9%	27.1%	12.1%	5.6%	0.553
N: none; Mi: mild; Mo: moderate; S: severe; VS: very severe.
		VS	S	MS	D	VD	VS	S	MS	D	VD	p-value
How satisfied/dissatisfied are you with your current sleep pattern?	n	21	87	30	125	34	21	103	57	175	57	0.282
	%	7.1%	29.3%	10.1%	42.1%	11.4%	5.1%	24.9%	13.8%	42.4%	13.8%	0.282
VS: very satisfied; S: satisfied; MS: moderately satisfied; D: dissatisfied; VD: very dissatisfied.
		N	L	S	M	V	N	L	S	M	V	p-value
How noticeable to others do you think your sleep problem is in terms of impairing the quality of your life?	n	52	127	21	30	63	100	160	47	25	74	0.029^ statistical significance p<0.05.
	%	17.5%	42.8%	7.1%	10.1%	21.2%	24.2%	38.7%	11.4%	6.1%	17.9%	0.029^ statistical significance p<0.05.
How worried/distressed are you about your current sleep problem	n	144	47	9	53	37	212	66	25	35	67	0.003^ statistical significance p<0.05.
	%	48.5%	15.8%	3.0%	17.8%	12.5%	51.3%	16.0%	6.1%	8.5%	16.2%	0.003^ statistical significance p<0.05.
N: not at all worried; L: a little; S: somewhat; M: much; V: very much worried.
		N	L	S	M	V	N	L	S	M	V	p-value
To what extent does your sleep problem interfere with your daily functioning (e.g., daytime fatigue, mood, ability to function at work/daily chores, concentration, memory, mood, etc.) currently?	n	86	102	21	40	39	104	146	55	29	73	0.002^ statistical significance p<0.05.
	%	29.0%	34.3%	7.1%	13.5%	13.1%	25.2%	35.4%	13.3%	7.0%	17.7%	0.002^ statistical significance p<0.05.
N: not at all interfering; L: a little; S: somewhat; M: much; V: very much interfering.
		NI	SuI	MI	SeI		NI	SuI	MI	SeI		p-value
Score categories	n	86	109	86	16	92	137	150	34	0.032^* * Pearson’s chi-square test; statistical significance p<0.05;
Score categories	%	29%	36.7%	29%	5.3%	22.3%	33.2%	36.3%	8.2%
NI: no clinically significant insomnia; SuI: subthreshold insomnia; MI: moderate insomnia; SeI: severe insomnia.

		n	%
Insomnia medication
	No	506	71.3
	Yes	204	28.7
Medication prescription
	Total	204	100
	I’m doing self-medication	123	60.3
	There was a medical prescription	81	39.7
Change in diet
	No	153	21.5
	Yes	557	78.5
Wake up in the middle of the night to eat
	No	658	92.7
	Yes	52	7.3
Increased consumption of alcoholic beverages
	No	518	73.0
	Yes	192	27.0
Change in physical activity
	No	129	18.2
	Yes	581	81.8

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[1] Correspondence: Isabella Araújo Mota; E-mail: isabella_mota@yahoo.com.br.