Evaluation of Sleep Quality before and During COVID-19 Quarantine and Its Relationship with Family Social Support: A Web-based Survey among University Students

The pandemic of COVID-19 quarantined most of the world’s population, which severely impacted daily life, especially academic activities.

This study aimed to evaluate the sleep quality before and during COVID-19 quarantine and its relationship with family social support among university students.

This cross-sectional study was performed on 283 university students in Mashhad in 2020. A web-based questionnaire, including demographic information, Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) and Procidano Perceived Social Support from Family (PSS-Fa) questionnaires were sent to all students.

The prevalence of PSQI > 5 among students before the quarantine was 80.6% and reached 82.7% during the quarantine. The mean score of PSQI before the quarantine was 10.00 ± 4.30 and reached 12.30 ± 5.53 during the quarantine (P-value < 0.001). PSQI score before and during quarantine showed a significant inverse correlation with the PSS-Fa score. The sleep quality in those who did not leave quarantine at all was significantly higher than in those who did.

This study shows decreased sleep quality in the students during the quarantine. In addition, students with more family social support had higher sleep quality, which could indicate the high impact of family social support on the students’ quality of life.