A systematic review and meta-analysis published in *Current Psychology* has found that over 40% of health care workers experienced insomnia during and after the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. This rate is significantly higher than that reported in the general population. The study, conducted by researchers at the Universidad Catolica de Murcia in Spain, analyzed 34 studies that included 32,930 health care professionals across 14 countries. The pooled prevalence of insomnia was determined to be 43.5%, with notable variability among the studies.
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The research indicates that sleep disturbances among health care workers have persisted beyond the initial surge of the pandemic. Previous meta-analyses conducted in 2020 highlighted insomnia rates ranging from 34% to 49%, and the updated analysis shows that these rates have remained consistent.
Among the findings, frontline workers, who are directly involved in patient care, exhibited a significantly higher prevalence of insomnia at 54.9% compared to second-line staff, who had a rate of 33.5%. The authors emphasized that the harsher working conditions and direct contact with infected patients likely contributed to this disruption in sleep.
However, insomnia rates were also found to be high among workers not on the front lines, indicating that the type of healthcare professional in the studies did not significantly affect the prevalence of insomnia symptoms. Additionally, geographic location played a role in the prevalence; studies conducted in Europe reported higher rates than those in Asia, with Chinese studies showing significantly lower rates compared to other countries.
The authors concluded that a subset of health care workers continues to be affected by the pandemic, and they stressed the importance of prioritizing the management of sleep disturbances to enhance immediate quality of life and mitigate potential future psychological risks.