What the study found
Sleep health in Catalonia improved from mid-2021 after the COVID-19 pandemic, but the improvement was uneven across sleep dimensions and population groups. Material deprivation was the strongest predictor of poorer sleep health and slower improvement.
Why the authors say this matters
The authors conclude that sleep health should be included in pandemic preparedness, and that interventions should address both behavioural sleep factors and structural determinants of health. The study suggests that socioeconomic conditions, especially material deprivation, are important for understanding who recovered more slowly.
What the researchers tested
The researchers conducted a repeated cross-sectional study using 11,794 responses from eight waves of the Catalan Health Survey in Spain, covering 2020 to 2023. Sleep health was measured with the SATED and Ru-SATED questionnaires, which assess Satisfaction, Alertness, Timing, Efficiency, Duration, and Regularity. They examined trends over time and compared patterns by sex, age, body mass index, material deprivation, comorbidity burden, and living situation.
What worked and what didn't
Sleep health improved starting in mid-2021 and then stabilized. Efficiency plateaued by late 2020, and Satisfaction was the most unstable dimension. Regularity declined during the 2020 lockdowns but improved soon afterward. Females consistently had lower scores than males, although their improvement trajectories were similar; older adults and people with excess weight showed different improvement patterns; living alone had a temporary negative effect during lockdowns that resolved by 2022; comorbidity burden affected baseline scores but not improvement trends.
What to keep in mind
The abstract does not describe detailed limitations beyond the study design and the population surveyed in Catalonia, Spain. The findings are based on survey data from 2020 to 2023 and may not apply beyond this context.
Key points
- Sleep health improved in Catalonia from mid-2021 after the pandemic, then stabilized.
- Material deprivation was the strongest predictor of poorer sleep health and delayed improvement.
- Sleep regularity fell during the 2020 lockdowns and improved soon afterward.
- Females had lower sleep scores than males, but their improvement patterns were similar.
- Satisfaction was the most unstable sleep dimension, while efficiency plateaued by late 2020.
Disclosure
- Research title:
- Sleep health improved unevenly after the pandemic
- Authors:
- Jordi de Batlle, Esther Gracia-Lavedan, Adriano D. S. Targa, Mario Henríquez-Beltrán, F. Barbé
- Institutions:
- Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Hospital Universitari Arnau de Vilanova, Universidad Adventista de Chile
- Publication date:
- 2026-01-28
- OpenAlex record:
- View
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