Introduction/Background: It is a well known fact that sleep is a critical biological process for the proper functioning of the human body. Therefore when confronting the COVID-19 pandemic sleep has become even more essential. With such unprecedented changes coming so quickly, it is understandable that the importance of sleep is flying under the radar. Social isolation, increase in screen time, economic/work stress and fear of contracting the virus can all bring about a profound change in the normal routine of both frontline workers as well as general population, which can directly as well indirectly affect their sleep pattern more than usual.

Keeping this in mind the following study was conducted throughout India with the following aim.

Materials and Methods- The following cross sectional questionnaire based observational study which was conducted in Dr D Y Patil University-Navi Mumbai.The study was conducted amongst healthcare workers and general population all over India through a pre-validated, pretested questionnaire which incorporated the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and were sent to the candidates through a Google Docs Link.

Results- 

A total of 1030 candidates participated in this study. 74% agreed that an increase in screen time affected their sleep, however 56.9% believe that watching the news about the pandemic in this screen time did not. 61% of the candidates did not believe that the fear of contracting the virus affected their sleep however 59.1% believed that decrease in social interaction definitely did.Also from our study we learnt something interesting, about 6% of our candidates who did not consume medication to improve their sleep prior to the pandemic had begun to use it amidst the pandemic.

Conclusion- 

The study has awakened us to the detrimental effect the COVID-19 pandemic has had on sleep. This study clearly shows that it’s not the virus or the fear of the virus that has affected sleep, but basic requirement like decrease human interaction, showing ultimately that humans are simply social animals with needs like food water air and most importantly sleep.