Impact of psychosocial determinants on sleep quality decreased during the COVID-19 lockdown: Evidence from an urban panel study

Abstract

Objectives: To explore the relationship between socioeconomic and health-related changes during the COVID-19 lockdown and sleep quality. Methods: A panel study was conducted with 667 participants from the Argentine Social Debt Survey in 2019 (pre lockdown), 2020 (during lockdown), and 2021 (post lockdown). Generalized linear mixed-effects models were performed to explore the following predictors of self-reported sleep quality over time: age, educational level, living in poverty, employment status, place of residence, psychological distress, and health status. Results: Reporting poor health and residing in Buenos Aires were associated with poor sleep quality, independent of the lockdown. Advanced age emerged as a significant predictor of poor sleep quality after the lockdown. Differences in sleep quality associated with living in poverty and psychological distress disappeared during lockdown and resumed post lockdown. Conclusions: This work highlights the importance of the dynamic interplay between socioeconomic and health-related factors when assessing sleep quality. In this urban Argentine panel study, the COVID-19 lockdown appeared to mitigate poverty-related disparities in sleep quality, underscoring the need to refocus attention on these vulnerable subpopulations in the post-lockdown period, when such disparities reemerged.