Generalized anxiety and sleep quality among health care professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study from a tertiary healthcare institution in Eastern India

Objectives: With the emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, healthcare professionals (HCPs) have experienced high levels of stress and anxiety because of the high risk of infection for themselves and their families. This has led to acute sleep problems for HCP. This study was designed to assess the anxiety and sleep quality of HCPs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This cross-sectional study analyzed 370 HCPs employed at All India Institute of Medical Sciences Patna over 3 months, using the standard Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7) for suspected GAD and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index for sleep quality. Results were tabulated and multivariable binomial logistic regression analysis was done to determine the predictors of poor sleep. Significance was attributed to p<0.05. Results: Of the 370 HCPs screened, 52 (14.1%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 10.8%-18.1%) were found to have GAD and 195 (52.7%; 95% CI, 47.5%-57.9%) were found to be poor sleepers. The presence of any addictive habit (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.833; 95% CI, 1.12-2.8), unprotected contact with COVID-19 cases (AOR, 1.902; 95% CI, 1.1-3.3), and the presence of GAD (AOR, 5.57; 95% CI, 2.5-12.4) were found to be predictors of poor sleep quality among HCPs. Conclusion: A significant proportion of HCPs were found to have suspected GAD and were poor sleepers. This highlights the need for measures to confront this problem.