Smartphone application-estimated sleep duration before and during COVID-19 in five major metropolitan areas on three different continents (Preprint)
BACKGROUND Public health policies to curb the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and associated coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), have resulted in significant alterations to daily routines among the general population. Sleep deficiency adversely affects immune function and could negatively impact the course of COVID-19. OBJECTIVE We examine changes in estimated sleep duration in five major metropolitan areas before and after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS We conducted a prospective observational study using estimated sleep duration data from a smartphone application. Data were obtained from regular users of the smartphone application before and after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic in March 2020. We compared within subject estimated sleep duration before and during COVID-19 using generalized linear mixed models. RESULTS Among the data: 957,022 out of 2,871,037 observations (33%) were from users in London; 549,151observations (19%) were from users in Los Angeles; 846,527 (30%) were from users in New York City, 251,113 (9%) were from users in Seoul; and 267,224 (9%) were from users in Stockholm. Average age among the sample was 35 years (±11 years). Prior to COVID-19, those residing in Seoul had the shortest estimated sleep duration (mean= 6h28m ±11.6m) and those residing in Stockholm had the longest estimated sleep duration (mean= 7h34m ± 9.9m). The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a 13.7m increase of estimated sleep duration comparing March 2019 and March 2020 (95%CI: 13.1-14.3m, P <.001) and an increase of 22.3m comparing April 2019 and April 2020 (95%CI: 21.5-23.1m, P<.001). CONCLUSIONS Average estimated sleep duration increased sharply in the months after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This finding suggests that the implementation of COVID-19 mitigation strategies have provided people worldwide with an increased opportunity to sleep, which may itself enhance the response of the immune system to viral pathogens. CLINICALTRIAL