Covid-19 changed sleeping pattern of Indians: Survey

Hyderabad: A survey conducted by LocalCircles found that many people reported disrupted sleep as a common issue due to the Covid-19 pandemic with 52% of citizens surveyed saying their sleep pattern has changed with the prevalence of Covid-19. On the other hand, 48% said there is no change in sleep patterns.

Citizens surveyed said post the Covid pandemic, they are struggling with sleep or are getting reduced duration of uninterrupted sleep, are facing sleep apnea, have trouble going to sleep, or need more hours of sleep.

Indians with symptomatic Covid reported waking up in the middle of their sleep, inability to sleep beyond 3-4 hours, with some even reporting panic attacks while asleep and excessive perspiration. On the other hand, 7% of citizens said they have developed apnea even though they haven't been affected by Covid, and 3% said they have trouble going to sleep in the first place.

LocalCircles conducted the survey to understand how many hours of uninterrupted sleep people generally get at night.

As part of the survey, 23% of people said they get up to four hours of uninterrupted sleep, 27% said 4-6 hours, 38% said 6-8 hours, and only 6% people responded that they get 8-10 hours of uninterrupted sleep. On an aggregate basis, one in two Indians is getting less than six hours of uninterrupted sleep each night; 1 in 4 is sleeping less than 4 hours. This question received 20,549 responses.

Breaking down the poll, though they haven't got Covid, 15% of citizens said their uninterrupted sleep duration has reduced and 7% have developed sleep apnea.

The survey found that on an aggregate basis, post- Covid pandemic, people are struggling with sleep, reduced duration of uninterrupted sleep, sleep apnea, trouble going to sleep, or need more hours. This question received 6,001 responses.

To summarise, the findings of the survey clearly establish that Covid has indeed had an impact on the quality of sleep of Indians. This is evident with 1 in 2 Indians surveyed saying that they are getting less than six hours of uninterrupted sleep each night, whereas 1 in 4 is sleeping less than 4 hours.

More research is needed on what people are experiencing and what can be done to address this during the Covid and post- Covid recovery phases. Sleep experts say adults must get 7 or more hours of sleep each night for good health and longevity and the results of the survey indicate that half of our population isn't getting the same and is at risk.

Survey Demographics

The survey received more than 32,000 responses from citizens across 322 districts of India. Of them, 61% were men while 39% of respondents were women; 49% of respondents were from tier 1 cities, 30% from tier 2, and 21% from tier 3, 4, and rural districts.