Changes in sleep schedule and chronotype due to COVID-19 restrictions and home office
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Original studies Somnologie https://doi.org/10.1007/s11818-020-00277-2 Accepted: 12 October 2020
Naomi Staller · Christoph Randler1
© The Author(s) 2020
Changes in sleep schedule and chronotype due to COVID-19 restrictions and home office
Introduction The first known case of COVID-19 caused by the novel coronavirus SARSCoV-2 occurred in the Chinese city Wuhan at the beginning of December 2019 [1]. It has since caused a global pandemic with dramatic consequences for public health, economy, and social life. In order to limit viral transmission and relieve the healthcare system, governments imposed restrictions on their populations. These differed considerably among countries. In Italy for example, a national health emergency was called out on March 10, 2020. Hereafter, the population was placed in social isolation and the Italian territory was locked down until May 3, 2020, when some restrictions were eased [2]. During this period, people were not allowed to leave the house except to take care of the necessities of life (e.g., buying food or medicine) [2]. Contradictorily, the restrictions in Sweden were comparatively mild and mainly relied on voluntary compliance with the Public Health Agency’s recommendations [3]. Preschools (students under 6 years old) and compulsory schools (students under 15–16 years old) remained open, while other schools and universities implemented online teaching. All business remained open as long as proper distance between people could be ensured [3]. Outdoor activities (e.g., walking in parks) were unrestricted and encouraged by authorities [3]. Considering the case numbers, the restriction measures in Germany were imposed early [4]. Starting in the middle of March 2020 (hereafter: COVID-19 restriction phase), universities, schools,
1
Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
kindergartens, and not-system-relevant businesses (e.g., beauty salons) were closed. Gatherings were banned, meeting people was allowed in groups of two (or two households) only, in public areas as well as on private property, and a mandatory isolation of people who had been exposed to or currently had COVID-19 was resolved [4]. The uncertain situation and the governmental measures resulted in changes in sleep and sleep timing around the globe. Some research groups showed increasing prevalence of sleep problems (insomnia, sleep loss, poor sleep quality) in healthcare workers and the general population [5–9], while others showed an improvement of sleep health. In India, China, and Italy, people slept later and longer [2, 7, 10, 11]. In a US sample, Gao and Scullin [9] showed improved sleep parameters even though the perceived view of participants differed partly. Leone et al. [12] showed a decrease of social jetlag in an Argentinian sample. Sleep deprivation related to late chronotypes was a major problem before the COVID-19 restriction phase, resulting in a state of social jetlag for eveningoriented people [13]. A person’s circadian timing depends on exogenous timekeepers (e.g., light cycle) and endogeno
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