Investigation on sleep and mental health of patients with Parkinson's disease during the Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is adversely affecting sleep quality and mental health, especially in individuals with chronic disease such as Parkinson's disease (PD). METHODS: We conducted a quantitative study, which included 119 Chinese PD patients who had been treated in an outpatient neurology clinic in Wuhan and 169 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. The questionnaire survey focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sleep, mental status, symptoms, and daily life and medical treatment of PD patients. RESULTS: Compared to healthy controls, PD patients had significantly higher scores in both the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) (8.13 vs 5.36, p < 0.001) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) -Depression (4.89 vs 3.82, p = 0.022), as well as a higher prevalence of sleep disturbances with PSQI > 5 points (68.9% vs 44.4%, p < 0.001). Sleep disturbance was identified in 68.9% of PD patients. A logistic regression analysis showed that sleep disturbance of PD patients was independently associated with exacerbation of PD symptoms (OR = 3.616, 95%CI= (1.479, 8.844), p = 0.005) and anxiety (OR = 1.379, 95%CI= (1.157, 1.642), p < 0.001). Compared to male PD patients, female ones had higher PSQI scores (9.28 ± 4.41 vs 7.03 ± 4.01, p = 0.009) and anxiety (32.8% vs 0.1%, p = 0.002) and depression prevalence (34.5% vs 11.5%, p = 0.003). CONCLUSION: The findings of the present study emphasize the importance of mental and sleep health interventions in PD patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional attention should be paid to the difficulty encountered by PD patients in seeking medical treatment.