The Impact Of Covid-19 Pandemic Restrictions On Sleep Health Among Chinese University Students

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of the pandemic on university students’ sleep health by comparing sleep health before and during the COVID-19 epidemic restrictions. METHODS: We conducted an online sleep survey on students from a major university in China during the COVID-19 pandemic, using the Satisfaction, Alertness, Timing, Efficiency, and Duration (SATED) scale from March 29 to April 15, 2020. Participants were also asked to retrospectively recall their sleep behaviors during pre-pandemic restrictions (before January 26, 2020). Data were analyzed using a paired-samples t-test. RESULTS: A total of 1,487 students (974 males and 513 females; Age = 19.72 ± 1.32 yr., BMI = 21.12 ± 4.50) participated in this study. Overall, during the COVID-19 restrictions, the students’ daily sleep time on workdays and weekends increased by 0.61 hours (8.63%, 95% CI = 0.56, 0.67) and 0.24 hours (2.89%, 95% CI = 0.18, 0.29), respectively. Total sleep health scores, sleep satisfaction scores, alertness scores, and sleep duration scores increased by 0.45 (6.87%, 95% CI = 0.37, 0.53), 0.14 (10.47%, 95% CI = 0.11, 0.17), 0.17 (15.17%, 95% CI = 0.14, 0.20), and 0.17 (10.83%, 95% CI = 0.14, 0.20), respectively. During the pandemic restrictions, female students showing greater enhancements in weekend sleep duration, sleep timing scores, and sleep duration scores compared to male students. CONCLUSIONS: In the early stages of the pandemic, the COVID-19 restrictions might have a positive impact on the sleep health of Chinese university students. Compared with male students, female students' sleep health was more affected by the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. The results suggest that the impact of COVID-19 on students varies across different subgroups within the university populations. These findings provide valuable insights for this specific period, they also highlight the importance of tailoring health prevention programs to the unique circumstances and needs of different periods and populations.