Problems of Radiation Medicine and Radiobiology

E. I. Stepanova¹, V. A. Poznysh¹, N. M. Gudz², V. Yu. Vdovenko¹

¹ State Institution «National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical
Sciences of Ukraine», 53 Yuriia Illienka Str., Kyiv, 04050, Ukraine
² State Institution «Ukrainian Specialized Dispensary for Radiation Protection of the Population of the
Ministry of Health of Ukraine», 1, Urban Str., Kyiv, 04075, Ukraine

ANXIOUSNESS AND QUALITY OF SLEEP IN CHILDREN WHO WERE IN QUARANTINE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Objective: to assess the level of anxiety and characterize the quality of sleep in children living in radioactively contaminated areas in comparison with children who were not affected by the Chornobyl-affected contingents that were quarantined in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Materials and methods. The indicators of the level of anxiety were studied using the scale of self-assessment of the level of anxiety Ch.D. Spielberger, sleep quality was assessed using a standardized questionnaire for self-completion of PSQI and ¹³⁷Cs content was measured in children. The main group consisted of 96 children who were quarantined due to the COVID-19 pandemic and permanently lived in radioactively contaminated areas of Zhytomyr and Rivne regions with a soil contamination density of ¹³⁷Cs from 18 kBq/m² to 235 kBq/m². The age of children ranged from 10 to 17 years. Among them were 33 boys and 63 girls. The comparison group consisted of 52 children of similar age, including 26 boys and 26 girls. These children lived permanently in Kyiv and were not victims of the Chornobyl disaster.
Results. It was found that children who were quarantined for COVID-19 (both residents of radioactively contaminated areas and children who do not belong to the contingents affected by the Chornobyl disaster) had an increased level of reactive (RA) and personal anxiety (PA). The comparative analysis showed that children of the same sex of the main group and the comparison group did not differ in terms of PA and RA. At the same time, studies have shown that girls, both in the main group and in the comparison group, were characterized by higher levels of PA and RA than boys. It was determined that poor sleep quality was common in both children living in radioactively contaminated areas (42.71 %) and children in the comparison group (42.44 %). Among the sleep disorders in children of both observation groups, «day dysfunction» was most often detected.
Conclusions. There was a direct correlation between the overall PSQI score and the level of reactive, personal anxiety and the overall PSQI score. Using regression analysis, the presence of a linear association of the level of incorporated ¹³⁷Cs (Bq) with the indicator of personal anxiety of children living in radioactively contaminated territory (b = - 0.716, p < 0.001) was proved.
Key words: Chornobyl disaster, COVID-19, quarantine, anxiety, sleep quality.

Problems of Radiation Medicine and Radiobiology.
2021;26:464-478. doi: 10.33145/2304-8336-2021-26-464-478

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