Pre-COVID-19 short sleep duration and eveningness chronotype are associated with incident suicidal ideation during COVID-19 pandemic in medical students: a retrospective cohort study

Aug 7, 2024Frontiers in public health

Short sleep and evening preference before COVID-19 linked to new suicidal thoughts during the pandemic in medical students

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Abstract

The incidence of during the COVID-19 pandemic was 5.71% among medical students.

  • Short sleep duration before the pandemic is associated with a higher risk of developing suicidal ideation during the pandemic.
  • A pre-COVID-19 tendency towards eveningness is linked to an increased risk of suicidal ideation during the pandemic.
  • Both short sleep duration (adjusted odds ratio of 4.91) and eveningness (adjusted odds ratio of 3.80) were identified as risk factors for incident suicidal ideation.

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Key numbers

19 of 333
Incident Rate
Number of students reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic
4.91
Increase in Risk (Short Sleep)
Adjusted odds ratio for short sleep duration predicting
3.80
Increase in Risk (Eveningness)
Adjusted odds ratio for eveningness predicting

Full Text

What this is

  • This research investigates the relationship between pre-COVID-19 sleep duration and with () among medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • A total of 333 students without at the pre-COVID-19 period were followed up to assess incident .
  • Findings indicate that both short sleep duration and eveningness are associated with increased risk of during the pandemic.

Essence

  • Pre-COVID-19 short sleep duration and eveningness predict incident () during the COVID-19 pandemic in medical students. The incidence of was 5.71% among the cohort.

Key takeaways

  • Short sleep duration (<7 hours/night) before the pandemic is linked to a higher risk of during COVID-19. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) for short sleep duration is 4.91.
  • Eveningness also correlates with increased risk, with an AOR of 3.80. Both factors suggest that sleep patterns significantly influence mental health during crises.

Caveats

  • Findings are based on self-reported sleep data, which may introduce recall bias. Objective sleep measurements could provide more accurate insights.
  • The study's focus on medical students limits generalizability to other populations. Further research is needed to explore these associations in broader contexts.

Definitions

  • suicidal ideation (SI): Thoughts about or an intention to commit suicide.
  • chronotype: An individual's natural preference for being active during certain times of the day, categorized as morningness, intermediateness, or eveningness.

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