In present study a questionnaire was sent to 196 adults which were based on anxiety and sleep quality question to general population. The aim of the study was to find the prevalence of psychological impact of COVID 19 pandemic-lockdown induced anxiety and its impact on sleep quality in adults between age 18-50 years. 44 questions were asked combining of all the 2 components anxiety and sleep. In the present study total 196 subjects were chosen randomly between the age group of 18 years to 50 years from all over the Maharashtra. The subjects were both male and female.
There was total 196 subjects the mean age was 26.57 years and the std dev was 8.043 years. The subjects were from different profession. The subjects were both male and female. Out of 196 64.18 % were female while 35.82 % were male.
Result showed that out of 196 subjects 88.56 % said their work schedule and daily routine changed which is very high and only 11.44 % said their work schedule and daily routine did not change during lockdown. This shows that lockdown has significant effect on the day-to-day activities of the general population.
In the study ‘psychological impact of COVID-19 lockdown: An online survey from India’ during the survey, a total of 1871 responses were collected, of which 1685 (90.05%) responses were analyzed. About two-fifth (38.2%) had anxiety and 10.5% of the participants had depression. Overall, 40.5% of the participants had either anxiety or depression. [1]
In our study questions were asked related to anxiety such as do you feel tense, nervous, restless or agitated? Out of 196 subjects only 26.37 % said never 2.49 % always 3.98 % frequently 7.96% half the time and 59.20 % respondent sometimes. This shows that only a small per centage of subjects 26.37 % never feel anxiety while rest of them do get anxious at some point of time. When asked whether they feel afraid for no apparent reason out of 196 subjects 43.78 % said never 16.91 % always 59.20 % sometimes 7.46 % half the time and 3.98 % responded frequently.
In another study ‘Mental health implications of COVID-19 pandemic and its response in India’ it is found that the major mental health issues reported were stress, anxiety, depression, insomnia, denial, anger and fear. Children and older people, frontline workers, people with existing mental health illnesses were among the vulnerable in this context. [2]
When questions were asked related to sleep quality like do you have difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep or waking up early the result showed that out of 196 subjects 11.44 % said frequently, 7.46 % half the time, 32.84 % never 42.79 % sometimes and 5.47 % responded always. This shows that only 32.84 % subjects find it easy to sleep while others find it difficult to sleep and this suggest that there is a strong correlation between anxiety and sleep. Those who are anxious finds it difficult to sleep.
In another study ‘Effects of Covid-19 Lockdown on Mental Health and Sleep Disturbances in Italy’ the total sample was 1515. The median age was 42 years (IQR = 23) and females accounted for 65.6%. 42.2% of respondents referred to having suffered from trouble sleeping. Among them, 19.9% resulted to have no clinical insomnia, 62.7% to suffer from subthreshold insomnia, 16.3% to suffer from a moderate clinical insomnia and only 1.1% from a severe clinical insomnia.[3]
In our study the result showed that out of 196 responses 6.47 % subjects frequently having difficulty with concentration and memory of thinking, 9.95 % half of the time, 39.80 % never 41.29 % sometimes and 2.49 % always. This is the result of anxiety when people are anxious, they find it difficult to concentrate. Anxiety has great impact on sleep, memory of thinking and concentration.
In our study we asked question related to sleep quality, do you have difficulty falling asleep? Out of 196 subjects 4.98 % said almost always, 8.96 % often, 49.25 % rarely, 36.82 % responded sometimes. We also asked do you fall into deep sleep and out of 196 subjects 18.91 % said almost always, 26.87 % often, 25.37 % rarely and 28.86 % responded sometimes. We also asked do you wake up while sleeping out of 196 subjects 4.98 % said almost always, 10.45 % often, 52.24 % rarely, and 32.24 % responded sometimes. Most of the subjects were finding it difficult to sleep or deep sleep due to anxiety. When people are anxious, they keep thinking while going to the bed and this aggravates sleeping problem in anxious people. We found strong correlation between anxiety and sleep during our study.
In the paper ‘Prevalence of stress, anxiety, depression among the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic’ a systematic review and meta-analysis the prevalence of anxiety was found in 17 studies with a sample size of 63,439 as 31.9% (95% confidence interval: 27.5–36.7).[4]
In our study result showed that good sleep makes people feel refreshed. When we asked a question do you feel refreshed after sleep out of 196 subjects 42.29 % said almost always 29.35 % often 4.48 % rarely and 23.88 % responded sometimes. Sleep has a significant role in the wellbeing of human. If a person gets enough sleep, he/she can feel refreshed all day.
In another study ‘Sleep quality and COVID-19-related stress in relation to mental health symptoms among Israeli and U.S. adults’ it is found that Participants reported high rates of depression and anxiety symptoms, adjustment difficulties, and poor sleep quality. In both countries, COVID-related stressors were associated with both anxiety and depression, and these associations were mediated by sleep disturbances.[5]
In our study we asked questions such as does poor sleep gives you headache? Out of 196 subjects 15.92 % said almost always, 17.91 % often, 27.36 % rarely and 38.81 % responded sometimes. When asked poor sleep makes you irritated out of 196 participants 17.41 % said almost always, 24.28 % often, 19.40 % rarely and 38.81 % sometimes. When asked is your fatigue relieved after sleep out of 196 subjects 32.34 % said almost always 22.89 % often 11.94 % rarely and 32.84 % responded sometimes. The sleep quality shows that when people do not get enough sleep, they get headache and makes them feel irritated. When a person gets enough sleep their fatigue is relieved.