People with insomnia and burnout are TWICE as likely to be infected with COVID-19

People who have insomnia or are experiencing burnout are more likely to contract COVID-19, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that for every extra hour of sleep, the odds of becoming infected with coronavirus decreased by 12 percent.

What’s more, for those who experience burnout daily, they were more than twice as likely to fall ill with the virus 

The team, led by Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, in Baltimore, Maryland, believes these conditions weaken the immune system, which raise the susceptibility to illnesses like COVID-19.

Previous research has linked that insufficient sleep and work burnout are linked to an increased risk of both viral and bacterial infections.

However, the team says it was not clear whether these factors also were associated with a heightened risk of COVID-19.

For the new study, published in the journal, BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health, researchers looked at the results of a survey for healthcare workers repeatedly exposed to patients infected with coronavirus.

The survey, which ran from July 17 to September 25, was taken by healthcare workers in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the U.S. 

Respondents were asked details about their lifestyle and health, which included how much sleep they got and burnout from work.

Of the 2,884 healthcare workers who took the survey, 568 of them reported that they had contracted COVID-19 in the past.

Researchers found that about 24 percent – one in four- of those with COVID-19 said they had difficulties sleeping at night compared with 21 percent – or one in five – of those who hadn’t been infected.

Healthcare workers who had contacted coronavirus were almost twice haas likely to report three or more sleep problems or need to use sleeping pills. 

For every one hour increase of sleep at night, there were 12 percent lower odds of becoming infected – but six percent higher odds for every hour spent daytime napping.

The same association was also found with burnout. 

About 5.5 percent of healthcare workers who had caught COVID-19 reported daily burnout compared to three percent of workers without the infection.

Those who reported frequent burnout were also three times as likely to say their infection was severe compared to workers who got sick but didn’t have frequent burnout. 

In addition, 18.2 percent of workers who didn’t fall ill said they never experience burnout compared to 13.7 percent of those who did.

Although the biology behind why insomnia and burnout increases the risk remains unclear, the authors believe both conditions weaken the immune system, which heightens the odds of contracting COVID-19 

‘These studies have suggested that burnout may directly or indirectly predict illnesses by occupational stress impairing the immune system and changing cortisol levels,’ they wrote. 

‘We found that lack of sleep at night, severe sleep problems and high level of burnout may be risk factors for COVID-19 in frontline [healthcare workers]. Our results highlight the importance of healthcare professionals’ well-being during the pandemic.’