A new study claimed that one can bring down the chances of contracting Covid-19 by 12 per cent by sleeping properly and for the required number of hours.
The study, published online in the journal BMJ Nutrition Prevention and Health, was carried out by a team of eight researchers who conducted a survey from July 17, 2020, to September 25, 2020.
The survey saw the participation of frontline healthcare workers from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The findings of the survey study suggested that factors like disrupted, or even less sleep, and daily burnout increase the risk of contracting the novel coronavirus.
The researchers noted that these factors also make individuals more susceptible to long Covid, wherein the coronavirus symptoms linger for days or even months.
According to the researchers, every one-hour increase in the amount of time spent asleep at night reduced the odds of becoming infected with Covid-19 by 12 per cent.
Researchers believe that insufficient or disrupted sleep and work burnout have been linked to a heightened risk of viral and bacterial infections. However, they also said that it is not clear if these are also risk factors for Covid-19.
They also found that an extra hour acquired in daytime napping was associated with six percent higher odds, however, this relation varies by country, the study noted.
Methodology
To find out the link, the scientists drew on the responses to the online survey for healthcare workers who were repeatedly exposed to patients with Covid-19 infection.
Around 2,884 healthcare workers participated in the survey, out of which 568 workers had Covid-19.