Subjective sleep quality before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in a Brazilian rural population

Objectives: Prior studies have examined sleep during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, but have few compared sleep measured both during and prior to COVID. We examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on subjective sleep quality in general and separately by gender and age (<50 vs. >50 years). Further, we compared sleep quality between those who did and did not follow quarantine orders. Methods: This sample is from the Baependi Heart Study, a family-based cohort of adults in South-eastern Bra-zil. Longitudinal data were from 417 individuals who completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) twice: between January 2010 and September 2014 (pre-COVID) and during the COVID-19 stay-at-home order March-June, 2020. Cross-sectional analysis included 800 participants. Results: Mean (+/- SD) PSQI scores were significantly higher during than before COVID-19 (5.7 +/- 3.8 vs. 5.0 +/- 3.3, p < .01). This increase was significant among women and among adults >50 years but not in men or younger adults. The significant increase in PSQI was only observed in those who quarantined during COVID-19 (5.9 +/- 3.7 vs. 5.2 +/- 3.4, p < .01) and not those who did not quarantine (5.0 +/- 3.7 vs. 4.5 +/- 3, p = .12). In cross-sectional analyses, individuals who quarantined had higher PSQI scores than nonquarantined individu-als (6.1 +/- 3.9 vs. 5.0 +/- 3.5, p < .01). The quarantine status-dependent differences were significant for women (6.4 +/- 4 vs. 5.2 +/- 3.7, p < .01) and older adults (6.6 +/- 0.1 vs. 5.5 +/- 3.3, p = .04). Differences by quarantine sta-tus were attenuated after adjusting for age and gender. Conclusions: Subjective sleep quality declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among women, older adults, and those compliant to quarantine orders. (c) 2021 National Sleep Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.