New Study Shows Insomnia More Common in COVID-19 Survivors

Baseline Characteristics

Researchers found that approximately 34% of their COVID patient population experienced at least 1 of the 14 neurological and/or psychiatric outcomes. While 5.4% of all patients in the study experienced insomnia, the number only increased with infection severity and need for hospitalization. With only 5.2% of non-hospitalized patients experiencing insomnia, the number jumps significantly upon hospital-entry to 6% and again to 7.5% and 10% for Intensive-Therapy-Unit–admitted and encephalopathy patients, respectively. It should be noted, this trend—an escalation in incidence with increased infection severity—was seen throughout the patient population despite neurological or psychiatric outcomes experienced.

Researchers speculate that some potential reasons for the neurological attack is viral invasion of the central nervous system, blood clotting disorders, and/or the toll immune response can take on our nervous system. The risks for these particular diagnoses may be small, but spread across a population can prove to have massive repercussions.

This study is further shedding light on the long-term implications COVID-19 will leave in its wake, plus the need for a more robust healthcare system to meet the needs of its population.