Estimated Sleep Duration Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Major Metropolitan Areas on Different Continents: Observational Study of Smartphone App Data
BackgroundAmid the COVID-19 pandemic, public health policies to curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and its associated disease, COVID-19, have resulted in significant alterations to daily routines (eg, work-from-home policies) that may have enabled longer sleep duration among the general population....
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
JMIR Publications
2021-02-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| Online Access: | https://www.jmir.org/2021/2/e20546 |
| _version_ | 1818892671139184640 |
|---|---|
| author | Robbins, Rebecca Affouf, Mahmoud Weaver, Matthew D Czeisler, Mark É Barger, Laura K Quan, Stuart F Czeisler, Charles A |
| author_facet | Robbins, Rebecca Affouf, Mahmoud Weaver, Matthew D Czeisler, Mark É Barger, Laura K Quan, Stuart F Czeisler, Charles A |
| author_sort | Robbins, Rebecca |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundAmid the COVID-19 pandemic, public health policies to curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and its associated disease, COVID-19, have resulted in significant alterations to daily routines (eg, work-from-home policies) that may have enabled longer sleep duration among the general population.
ObjectiveWe aimed to examine changes in estimated sleep duration in 5 major metropolitan areas before and after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
MethodsWe conducted a prospective observational study using estimated sleep duration data obtained from a smartphone app. The data were obtained from regular users of the smartphone app 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 the COVID-19 pandemic using generalized linear mixed models.
ResultsAmong the 2,871,037 observations, 957,022 (33.3%) were from users in London; 549,151 (19.1%) were from users in Los Angeles; 846,527 (29.5%) were from users in New York City; 251,113 (8.7%) were from users in Seoul; and 267,224 (9.3%) were from users in Stockholm. The average age of the users in the sample was 35 years (SE 11 years). Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, people residing in Seoul had the shortest estimated sleep duration (mean 6 hours 28 minutes, SE 11.6 minutes) and those residing in Stockholm had the longest estimated sleep duration (mean 7 hours 34 minutes, SE 9.9 minutes). The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a 13.7 minute increase in estimated sleep duration when comparing March 2019 and March 2020 (95% CI 13.1-14.3, P<.001) and an increase of 22.3 minutes when comparing April 2019 and April 2020 (95% CI 21.5-23.1, P<.001).
ConclusionsThe 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 has provided people worldwide with increased opportunities to sleep, which may enhance the response of the immune system to viral pathogens. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T18:00:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-319bddfda05d4a87aafdc445a3809850 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1438-8871 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T18:00:24Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-319bddfda05d4a87aafdc445a38098502022-12-21T20:11:42ZengJMIR PublicationsJournal of Medical Internet Research1438-88712021-02-01232e2054610.2196/20546Estimated Sleep Duration Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Major Metropolitan Areas on Different Continents: Observational Study of Smartphone App DataRobbins, RebeccaAffouf, MahmoudWeaver, Matthew DCzeisler, Mark ÉBarger, Laura KQuan, Stuart FCzeisler, Charles ABackgroundAmid the COVID-19 pandemic, public health policies to curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and its associated disease, COVID-19, have resulted in significant alterations to daily routines (eg, work-from-home policies) that may have enabled longer sleep duration among the general population. ObjectiveWe aimed to examine changes in estimated sleep duration in 5 major metropolitan areas before and after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. MethodsWe conducted a prospective observational study using estimated sleep duration data obtained from a smartphone app. The data were obtained from regular users of the smartphone app 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 the COVID-19 pandemic using generalized linear mixed models. ResultsAmong the 2,871,037 observations, 957,022 (33.3%) were from users in London; 549,151 (19.1%) were from users in Los Angeles; 846,527 (29.5%) were from users in New York City; 251,113 (8.7%) were from users in Seoul; and 267,224 (9.3%) were from users in Stockholm. The average age of the users in the sample was 35 years (SE 11 years). Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, people residing in Seoul had the shortest estimated sleep duration (mean 6 hours 28 minutes, SE 11.6 minutes) and those residing in Stockholm had the longest estimated sleep duration (mean 7 hours 34 minutes, SE 9.9 minutes). The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a 13.7 minute increase in estimated sleep duration when comparing March 2019 and March 2020 (95% CI 13.1-14.3, P<.001) and an increase of 22.3 minutes when comparing April 2019 and April 2020 (95% CI 21.5-23.1, P<.001). ConclusionsThe 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 has provided people worldwide with increased opportunities to sleep, which may enhance the response of the immune system to viral pathogens.https://www.jmir.org/2021/2/e20546 |
| spellingShingle | Robbins, Rebecca Affouf, Mahmoud Weaver, Matthew D Czeisler, Mark É Barger, Laura K Quan, Stuart F Czeisler, Charles A Estimated Sleep Duration Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Major Metropolitan Areas on Different Continents: Observational Study of Smartphone App Data Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| title | Estimated Sleep Duration Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Major Metropolitan Areas on Different Continents: Observational Study of Smartphone App Data |
| title_full | Estimated Sleep Duration Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Major Metropolitan Areas on Different Continents: Observational Study of Smartphone App Data |
| title_fullStr | Estimated Sleep Duration Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Major Metropolitan Areas on Different Continents: Observational Study of Smartphone App Data |
| title_full_unstemmed | Estimated Sleep Duration Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Major Metropolitan Areas on Different Continents: Observational Study of Smartphone App Data |
| title_short | Estimated Sleep Duration Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Major Metropolitan Areas on Different Continents: Observational Study of Smartphone App Data |
| title_sort | estimated sleep duration before and during the covid 19 pandemic in major metropolitan areas on different continents observational study of smartphone app data |
| url | https://www.jmir.org/2021/2/e20546 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT robbinsrebecca estimatedsleepdurationbeforeandduringthecovid19pandemicinmajormetropolitanareasondifferentcontinentsobservationalstudyofsmartphoneappdata AT affoufmahmoud estimatedsleepdurationbeforeandduringthecovid19pandemicinmajormetropolitanareasondifferentcontinentsobservationalstudyofsmartphoneappdata AT weavermatthewd estimatedsleepdurationbeforeandduringthecovid19pandemicinmajormetropolitanareasondifferentcontinentsobservationalstudyofsmartphoneappdata AT czeislermarke estimatedsleepdurationbeforeandduringthecovid19pandemicinmajormetropolitanareasondifferentcontinentsobservationalstudyofsmartphoneappdata AT bargerlaurak estimatedsleepdurationbeforeandduringthecovid19pandemicinmajormetropolitanareasondifferentcontinentsobservationalstudyofsmartphoneappdata AT quanstuartf estimatedsleepdurationbeforeandduringthecovid19pandemicinmajormetropolitanareasondifferentcontinentsobservationalstudyofsmartphoneappdata AT czeislercharlesa estimatedsleepdurationbeforeandduringthecovid19pandemicinmajormetropolitanareasondifferentcontinentsobservationalstudyofsmartphoneappdata |