Prevalence of Insomnia at Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Background and Objective Lockdown, social confinement, and the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic have increased mental health disorders and affected sleep disorders, especially insomnia. This study aims to explain the prevalence of insomnia before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Surakarta, Indonesia.Methods This cross-sectional survey was conducted twice in Surakarta city. The survey was conducted before the pandemic with 456 participants and during the pandemic with 1254 participants. All participants were selected using the purposive sampling method with criteria of age 15–44 years and having sleep problems. The online questionnaire of the Insomnia Severity Index Indonesian version (ISI–INA) was used to collect insomnia data. The statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS v25 by a descriptive test and Mann–Whitney test.Results The mean total ISI–INA scores before and during the pandemic were 13.83 and 12.54. Surveys found that the participants who suffered from subthreshold insomnia, moderate, and severe insomnia before the pandemic were 45.6%, 41.2%, and 5%, respectively, while during the pandemic 42.1%, 35%, and 3.5%, respectively. There was a difference between before and during the pandemic in the mean total ISI scores, severity of insomnia, difficulty in falling asleep and maintaining sleep, waking up too early, sleep dissatisfaction, noticeability of sleep problems by others, and interference of sleep problems with daytime activities (p < 0.05), while there was no difference in the worried about sleep problems (p > 0.05).Conclusions The prevalence of insomnia during the COVID-19 pandemic is lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, the prevalence of insomnia remains relatively high, so gradual and continuous intervention is needed to overcome insomnia.