Prevalence and correlates of total sleep time among the older adults during COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh

Sabuj Kanti Mistry; Arm Mehrab Ali; Md Sabbir Ahmed; Uday Narayan Yadav; Md Safayet Khan; Md Belal Hossain; Fakir Md Yunus

doi:10.1016/j.sleepe.2021.100008

Prevalence and correlates of total sleep time among the older adults during COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh

Sleep Epidemiol. 2021 Dec:1:100008. doi: 10.1016/j.sleepe.2021.100008. Epub 2021 Sep 11.

Authors

Sabuj Kanti Mistry^{1

2

3}, Arm Mehrab Ali^{1

4}, Md Sabbir Ahmed⁵, Uday Narayan Yadav², Md Safayet Khan⁶, Md Belal Hossain^{3

7}, Fakir Md Yunus⁸

Affiliations

¹ ARCED Foundation, 13/1, Pallabi, Mirpur-12, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
² Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
³ BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, 68 Shahid Tajuddin Ahmed Sharani, Mohakhali, Dhaka-1212, Bangladesh.
⁴ Innovations for Poverty Action, United States.
⁵ Department of Community Health and Hygiene, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Dumki, Patuakhali, 8602, Bangladesh.
⁶ BRAC Institute of Educational Development, BRAC University, Bangladesh.
⁷ School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, 2206 East Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada.
⁸ Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University. 1355 Oxford Street, Halifax NS B3H 4R2, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Abstract

Purpose: The present study was aimed to identify inappropriate sleep duration and its correlates among the Bangladeshi older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Material and methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out among 1030 older adults aged 60 years and above in Bangladesh. Information was collected through telephone interviews using a pretested semi-structures questionnaire installed in SurveyCTO mobile app. Sleep duration was defined as total sleep time (TST) in last 24 h including day and nighttime sleep. TST was further categorized into shorter (<7 h), recommended (7-8 h), and longer sleep (>8 h) according to 2015 National Sleep Foundation guideline. The multinomial logistic regression model identified the factors associated with sleep duration.

Results: Mean TST was 7.9 h (SD=1.62). Of the total participants, 28.2% had longer and 17.8% shorter sleep duration. In the regression model, participants' age of ≥80 years (OR: 3.36, 1.46-7.73), monthly family income of <5,000 Bangladeshi Taka (OR: 3.50, 1.79-6.82), difficulty in getting medicine during COVID-19 (OR: 1.72, 1.05-2.82), lack of communication during the pandemic (OR: 2.20, 1.43-3.40) and receiving COVID-19 related information from friends/family/neighbours (OR: 1.83, 1.11-3.01) were significantly associated with shorter TST. On the other hand, monthly family income of < 5,000 Bangladeshi Taka (OR: 2.00, 1.13-3.53), difficulty in getting medicine during COVID-19 pandemic (OR: 2.01, 1.33-3.03) and receiving COVID-19 related information from radio/TV (OR: 2.09, 1.22-3.59) were associated with longer TST.

Conclusions: The study findings suggest implementing sleep management program for older adults in Bangladesh, particularly during emergencies like COVID-19.

Keywords: Bangladesh; COVID-19; Inappropriate sleep duration; Older adults; Total sleep time.