Habitual Short sleepers with pre-existing conditions at higher risk of Long COVID

A recent study Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine revealed a concerning link between habitual sleep duration, pre-existing medical conditions and the risk of Long COVID. The International COVID Sleep Study II (ICOSS II) was conducted in 2021 and involved 13,461 participants across 16 countries to highlight the role of sleep patterns in exacerbating the effects of the post-COVID symptoms.

Out of the 2,508 individuals who contracted COVID-19, 61% reported experiencing at least one symptom associated with Long COVID. This phenomenon was characterized by persistent symptoms long after the initial infection was cleared.

The participants with pre-existing medical conditions underwent a 1.8-fold increase in the Long COVID risk if they slept for an average duration (6-9 hours per night) when compared to those without pre-existing conditions. The risk surged to a 3-fold increase (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.95) for the short sleepers with underlying health issues. Also, long sleepers with pre-existing conditions did not show a statistically significant increase in the risk.

These findings suggest that habitual short nighttime sleep duration significantly amplifies the risk of Long COVID in individuals already suffering with pre-existing conditions. The study emphasized the potentially modifiable nature of this risk factor and restoring nighttime sleep to an average duration could play an important role in reducing the odds of Long COVID among at-risk patients.

This study underlines the critical relationship between sleep, pre-existing conditions and COVID outcomes which also presents a tangible and modifiable aspect that could be integrated into preventive healthcare strategies.

Source:

Berezin, L., Waseem, R., Merikanto, I., Benedict, C., Holzinger, B., De Gennaro, L., Wing, Y. K., Bjorvatn, B., Korman, M., Morin, C. M., Espie, C., Landtblom, A.-M., Penzel, T., Matsui, K., Hrubos-Strøm, H., Mota-Rolim, S., Nadorff, M. R., Plazzi, G., Reis, C., … Chung, F. (2024). Habitual short sleepers with pre-existing medical conditions are at higher risk of Long COVID. In Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine (Vol. 20, Issue 1, pp. 111–119). American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM). https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.10818