Coping, symptoms, and insomnia among people with heart failure during the COVID-19 pandemic

Increases in stress, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and sleep problems have been reported during the Covid-19 pandemic, and people with chronic medical conditions such as heart failure (HF) are especially vulnerable. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which sleep characteristics, sleep-related cognitions, anxiety, depression, perceived stress, and changes in these phenomena over time predict ways of coping with pandemic-related stress among participants in the HeartSleep study, a randomized controlled trial of the effects of cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) in people with HF.

Participants completed questionnaires to elicit sleep characteristics, daytime symptoms, mood and stress at baseline, 6 months after the intervention and during the Covid-19 pandemic. We added measures of coping during the pandemic (June–August 2020). The sample included 112 participants (M age = 63 ± 12.9 years; 47% women; 13% Black; 68% NY Heart Class II or III). Participants (43%) reported pandemic-related stressors and most often used secondary control coping. Insomnia severity, anxiety, depression, perceived stress, and sleep-related cognitions predicted secondary control coping (positive thinking, cognitive restructuring, acceptance, distraction), involuntary engagement (physiological arousal, rumination), and involuntary disengagement (emotional numbing).

Insomnia and mood disturbance are important determinants of coping and responses to stress. Improving sleep and symptoms among people with HF may improve coping during stressful events, and CBT-I may have protective effects.

ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT 02660385.