Many people who have been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus continue to experience symptoms of the infection long after the virus has cleared from their body; It is what is known as persistent or prolonged COVID. One of these symptoms is breathlessness, and now a team of scientists in the UK has found that the disturbances in sleep patterns suffered by some patients who had to be hospitalized due to COVID-19 could be linked to their breathing difficulties.
Researchers have analyzed data from adult patients admitted to 38 centers across the UK (discharged between March 2020 and October 2021) and found that 62% of those admitted to hospital for COVID had disorders of sleep, which would probably be maintained for a minimum of 12 months, and have pointed out for the first time that there is an association between two sequelae of the disease: dyspnea or shortness of breath and circadian disruption.
The research has been led by the University of Manchester and the University of Leicester, has been presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases held in Copenhagen between April 15 and 18 and has been published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.
The authors suggest that treating sleep disruption by reducing anxiety and improving muscle strength could alleviate shortness of breath in these patients.
Sleep quality was assessed using subjective measures reported by 638 patients. In another 729 patients it was measured objectively because they used devices that measured nocturnal activity levels. The results of both measures showed a higher prevalence of sleep disturbances in people who had been hospitalized with COVID-19 compared to control group participants who had been hospitalized for any cause. The impact of COVID hospitalization on sleep was independent of intensive care admission.
Although people who had been hospitalized for COVID-19 slept on average more than an hour longer, their sleep patterns were less regular – a 19% reduction was observed on the sleep regularity scale – compared to participants who had been hospitalized for COVID-19. admitted to hospital for any other cause. These scientists also found that individuals with sleep disorders were more likely to experience anxiety and muscle weakness, which are also common post-COVID symptoms.
Treat sleep disturbances to relieve breathing problems
Statistical analysis revealed that sleep disruption was likely to directly cause dyspnea, but that decreased muscle function and increased anxiety, which are known causes of dyspnea, could influence the relationship between sleep disturbance and dyspnea. For this reason, the authors suggest that treating sleep interruption by reducing anxiety and improving muscle strength could alleviate shortness of breath in these patients, although they acknowledge that further research is necessary in this regard.
“Understanding the causes of dyspnea is complex,” explained mathematician Callum Jackson from the University of Manchester and first author of the paper, because it can be the consequence of disorders “that affect the respiratory, neurological, cardiovascular, and mental health systems.” that “they are also affected by sleep disturbance, another symptom that has been frequently reported after COVID-19.”
“Our findings suggest that sleep disturbance is a common problem after hospitalization for COVID-19 and is associated with shortness of breath,” continues the expert. “We also show that this is likely to persist for at least 12 months, as subjective sleep quality did not change between the 5- and 12-month follow-up visits.”
One of the authors, Dr. John Blaikley, a clinical scientist at the University of Manchester and a respiratory physician, said: “This study has found that sleep disturbance could be an important factor in post-stroke shortness of breath (or dyspnea). COVID-19 because of its associations with reduced muscle function and anxiety.” “If this is the case,” he adds, “then interventions targeting poor sleep quality could be used to manage symptoms and convalescence after hospitalization for COVID-19, potentially improving patient outcomes.”
“Future research must now assess whether targeted interventions for sleep disorders can improve not only sleep quality but also breathlessness by reducing anxiety and improving muscle strength,” concludes Professor Chris Brightling, from the University of Leicester. .
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