Development of a hybrid undergraduate portfolio for the AETCOM module.

Background: A structured Attitude Ethics and Communication (AETCOM) module for undergraduates exists. For ensuring that the module achieves what it is intended to achieve, there was a felt need to develop a learning portfolio with an emphasis on reflections and with a scope for assessment. Methods: The AETCOM module by NMC has laid out objectives, lesson plans, and case-based scenarios. Hybrid portfolio development was necessary to align the sessions to the objectives and lesson plans and to help students capture their learning process with self-reflection, and at the same time, ensure the scope of assessment of these activities. Hence, writing reflections was considered the most important step. Measures were taken to train students in writing reflections, and faculty development workshops were also conducted. An evaluation was done using Kirkpatrick model level I-III using student's feedback form, scores of rubric matrix for assessment of reflections and one-on-one interaction with students by trained faculty. Faculty perspectives on portfolio development were collected. Results: A significant improvement in students' self-assessment scores on AETCOM module was seen (p <0.05). An assessment of reflections using a rubric matrix showed that all the students reached at least grade B by the end of three months. More than 90% of faculty members felt that the faculty is vital for assessing AETCOM. Conclusion: The development of a hybrid portfolio for AETCOM requires faculty development and special sessions for students on writing reflections. The hybrid portfolio provides the learner to self reflect, and a rubric matrix can be used to assess reflections.

Off-site simulation-based training on management of postpartum hemorrhage amongst final-year medical students.

Background: Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is an obstetric emergency, and training of health-care providers for early diagnosis and intervention improves morbidity and mortality. Regular simulation-based training modules are conducted in our institute for health-care providers. The objective of this study was to assess the final-year medical students on their subjective improvement in the management of PPH after an off-site simulation-based training which was conducted after a conventional lecture. Methods: A survey was administered on medical students and their subjective retrospective analysis of both pre and post off-site simulation was collected. The survey was analyzed, and results were formulated. Results: Forty-six students completed the survey. Although students felt their confidence level in enumerating the steps in management of PPH less than 50% before the drill, it increased to 70% after the drill. The confidence of the students in carrying out the procedures of PPH also increased. The results showed a considerable subjective improvement in skill and cognitive enhancement after an off-site simulation-based training. There was a significant improvement in the pre and postsimulation training scores in the test. The faculty felt that there was an enhancement in learning after the simulation training. Conclusion: Off-site simulation of an emergency condition improves both knowledge and skill in students.

Survey of antidoping knowledge, attitudes and practices amongst elite Indian sportsmen and the way forward.

BACKGROUND: Indian sportspersons have reported several antidoping rule violations with several cases suggesting inadvertent use of prohibited substances. This study was designed to evaluate the anti-doping knowledge, attitudes and practices amongst elite Indian sportsmen to suggest future interventions. METHODS: This study conducted at a Sports institute used an anonymized questionnaire to survey 181 male (18-35 years old) elite young athletes' attitudes toward performance-enhancing substances and anti-doping rules. RESULTS: Athlete awareness regarding antidoping agencies and antidoping rule violations was poor. 40% or less reported receiving antidoping updates. All reported improvement in antidoping knowledge and attitude changes after attending updates. Health is more important than sporting performance for 80% or more. Very low percentage reported consumption of banned substances amongst themselves and team mates. One-third of these athletes reported not having being tested for banned substances. Athletes who have attended antidoping sessions exhibit significantly higher knowledge levels and a significantly higher 80% reported consulting their Team doctor before any therapeutic drug use as compared with non-attendees. CONCLUSION: Indian elite athletes report low awareness about anti-doping rules and prohibited substances with low proportion of athletes reporting doping and being tested for doping. Grass root level education, supplement regulation, trained athlete support personnel and accessible reference material seems to be the way forward.

Yoga nidra practice shows improvement in sleep in patients with chronic insomnia: A randomized controlled trial.

Background Yoga nidra is practised by sages for sleep. The practice is simple to use and has been clearly laid out, but its role in the treatment of chronic insomnia has not been well studied. Methods In this randomized parallel-design study conducted during 2012-16, we enrolled 41 patients with chronic insomnia to receive conventional intervention of cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (n=20) or yoga nidra (n=21). Outcome measures were both subjective using a sleep diary and objective using polysomnography (PSG). Salivary cortisol levels were also measured. PSG was done before the intervention in all patients and repeated only in those who volunteered for the same. Results Both interventions showed an improvement in subjective total sleep time (TST), sleep efficiency, wake after sleep onset, reduction in total wake duration and enhancement in subjective sleep quality. Objectively, both the interventions improved TST and total wake duration and increased N1% of TST. Yoga nidra showed marked improvement in N2% and N3% in TST. Salivary cortisol reduced statistically significantly after yoga nidra (p=0.041). Conclusion Improvement of N3 sleep, total wake duration and subjective sleep quality occurred following yoga nidra practice. Yoga nidra practice can be used for treatment of chronic insomnia after supervised practice sessions.

A pilot study on case-based learning (CBL) in medical microbiology; students perspective.

BACKGROUND: Traditional teaching of medical microbiology has revolved around an organism centric, didactic lecture approach, lacking clinical relevance and appeal. Studies have shown that case-based learning in comparison to didactic lectures leads to a greater comprehension and understanding of the subject. To conduct a pilot study in our medical. College for the current MBBS batch (2019) (following the old pattern of syllabus), on student perceptions on case based learning (CBL) before the new Competency based undergraduate curriculum is rolled out for 2021 batch coming to second year of MBBS. METHODS: This pilot study was conducted at a medical college. The study was designed as an observational study on educational research and was approved by the institutional ethical committee (IEC). Study participants were second MBBS students willing to participate in the study (n = 60). Four topics were chosen to be taught as casebased scenarios as per the new CBME syllabus. Six weeks after the first CBL session was conducted, a survey questionnaire was given to the students to share their perceptions anonymously. The questionnaire had questions framed to assess the students' perception about CBL. The evaluation was done on a 5-point Likert. The responses collected were compiled in Microsoft excel sheet and the data was analysed statistically. Faculty perspective was also gathered. RESULTS: Majority of the students perceived CBL positively. There was a shift in the student's perspective towards the subject of microbiology, from being perceived earlier as theoretical and non-clinical to being perceived as appealing and clinically relevant.

M3: The military medicine module: A focussed competency-based program.

BACKGROUND: Military medicine is a unique and specific field for the armed forces doctors providing skill-based training on military specific injuries and diseases arising due to the unique occupational conditions. The current study retrospectively studied the planning and implementation of the military medicine module which was carried out with the aim of imparting the requisite skills to military doctors. METHODS: The study was a qualitative research, carried over two years, 2017-2019. The study population included two batches of recently graduated medical doctors about to be commissioned . The methodology included needs assessment and gap analysis which was carried out by consulting experts from the tri services. Feedback was taken by medical education experts from both the batches using surveys, and modifications were done after brainstorming with experts keeping feedback in mind. RESULTS: There was an improvement in the rating scores and an improved performance by participants was seen in the competencies. CONCLUSION: In conclusion the module was developed and implemented keeping in mind the important skills that military physicians need to learn through training as these are not been taught in any educational syllabus. To achieve such skills and capabilities, gap analysis is essential and programs should be implemented keeping scope for modification depending on the feedback after brainstorming. Feedback remains important in development of such modules and hence should be collected anonymously.

Enhancing communication skills among residents in India: An interprofessional education approach.

BACKGROUND: Interprofessional education (IPE) provides opportunities to postgraduates to develop communication skills which are vital for interactions with patients, their relatives, colleagues, paramedical and nursing staff. There is a need to develop an innovative IPE based module on communication skills for postgraduates stressing upon the existing lacunae and requirements detected by a validated assessment tool. We assessed the residents' appraisal of communication skills by a validated questionnaire to identify key areas to improve their communication skills and to determine perceptions of all the stakeholders i.e. faculty, nursing staff and paramedical staff. METHODS: A descriptive correlational design using an online self-administered questionnaire on a sample of a total of 200 participants comprising residents, paramedical staff, nursing staff and faculty of tertiary care hospital. Study was approved by the Institutional Ethical Committee. Data was analysed by SPSS Version 22.0 used. (p value < 0.05 significant). RESULTS: The participants included 113 residents, 17 paramedical staff, 33 Nursing staff and 37 faculty members. The present study found a significant difference of scores of means between the residents, faculty, paramedical staff and nursing staff p value < 0.05 except for alter centrism, interaction management and environmental control. The mean scores were also significantly different between the first, second and third year residents. CONCLUSION: This study validates the need to enhance the communication skills of residents. The scores obtained will help us design and refine IPE module for the benefit of the residents.

Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) and milestones for MD sports medicine: A proposed portfolio.

BACKGROUND: Sports Medicine is an upcoming postgraduate speciality in India. A MD Sports Medicine specialist is expected to contribute in the prevention of sports injuries, sportsmen training and enhancement of performance apart from being involved in planning of conduct of sports events amongst many other roles and responsibilities. This requires hands-on training and acquisition of skill sets required to perform these roles. The National Medical Council of India highlights the need for a competency based curriculum and has laid down guidelines for the course. There was a felt need to develop Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) and milestones based on the prescribed curricula and develop a portfolio for continuous monitoring of the achievement of these EPAs. METHODS: A five step model was done by experts in the field to prepare the EPAs, milestones and portfolio. This consisted of faculty development, identification of the EPAs and milestones and portfolio preparation. RESULTS: 114 EPAs and 961 milestones were identified by the subject experts. The portfolio was developed with the help of specialists and faculty of the field of sports medicine, and medical educationists. CONCLUSION: Post graduate medical education is mandated to be competency based. A portfolio has been developed in the current exercise for use in a competency based post-graduate curriculum in sports medicine. This will help in the better implementation of CBME in the country.

Development of a portfolio framework for implementation of an outcomes-based healthcare professional education curriculum using a modified e-Delphi method.

BACKGROUND: The explicit declaration of Entrustable Professional Activities (EPA) and milestones are an essential component of a competency based medical education curricula. The present study attempts to develop a portfolio framework to document them for adaptation in any healthcare professional education curriculum development. METHODS: A modified e-Delphi method was used after incorporation of a study group of medical education experts (MEDEX-G). Consensus was defined as 75% agreement. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected and analysed to conduct three rounds of the Delphi. RESULTS: The draft template was prepared by the core faculty of medical education centre. The final template was approved by the experts after 03 iterations of anonymous online voting and presentation of summary results by the moderator. The final template lists out the milestones of each EPA separately with provision for expected expertise and level, suggestive teaching learning activities and assessments, reflections by the students and feedback by facilitator for each EPA. CONCLUSION: The MEDEX-G consensus template is an important development to encourage the adoption of portfolios in a competency based medical education curriculum. It can be freely adopted by various healthcare professional education bodies in various disciplines.

The infodemics of COVID-19 amongst healthcare professionals in India.

BACKGROUND: There is a deluge of information and misinformation about COVID-19. The present survey was conducted to explore the sources of information /misinformation for healthcare professionals from India. METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey using snowballing technique was conducted from 24 Mar to 10 Apr 2020. The questionnaire was pretested and developed using standard techniques. It was circulated among medical students and physicians. Data were analysed using the STATA software. RESULTS: Data of 758 participants were analysed. A total of 255 (33.6%) medical students, 335 (44.2%) nonspecialists and 168 (22.1%) specialists participated. The most common source of formal and informal information was official government websites and online news, respectively. A total of 517 (68.2%) participants accepted receiving misinformation. Social media and family and friends were the most common sources of misinformation. Seventy-two percent of participants agreed that spread of information helped to contain COVID-19, but more than that 75% agreed to having received inaccurate information. Seventy-four percent of respondents felt the need for regulation of information during such times; 26% and 33% felt that information about COVID-19 made them feel uncomfortable and distracts routine decision-making, respectively, and 50% felt it was difficult to differentiate correct from incorrect information about COVID-19. CONCLUSION: The study explored the sources of information and misinformation and found a high prevalence of misinformation, especially from social media. We suggest the need to better manage the flow of information so that it can be an effective weapon against SARS-CoV2. There is a need for doctors to adapt to the changing times of infodemics accompanying pandemics.

Post-intense exercise sleep concerns in weightlifters: A pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Weightlifting is a power and dynamic strength game. Performance of weightlifters during competition depends on absolute and relative power output achieved by them. To enhance power and strength in weightlifters, training programmes have frequent high-intensity exercise sessions. On an informal interaction with the sportspersons, they often complain of problems after intense training. There was a felt need to analyse the problems they perceive after intense training. METHOD: A feedback form was developed after brainstorming with coaches and sports medicine physicians of a sports institute. Thirty-six male weightlifters aged 19.78 ± 4.71 yrs (mean ± standard deviation) of an institute participated after obtaining informed consent. The feedback form was collected and analysed. RESULT: After an intense exercise, participants reported complaints such as increased fatigue (n = 27), sleep problems (n = 26), restlessness (n = 18) and decreased appetite (n = 12). Of the sleep problems, 69.4% (n = 25 out of 36) noticed worsening of sleep, 50% (n = 18) noticed sleep was light after intense training, 58.3% (n = 21) felt difficulty in falling asleep, 47.2% (n = 7) complained of frequent waking up during sleep at night and 77.8% (n = 28) felt sleepy after waking up. CONCLUSION: Intense training encounters certain problems such as fatigue, sleep disturbances, restlessness and decreased appetite.

Senior Vipassana Meditation practitioners exhibit distinct REM sleep organization from that of novice meditators and healthy controls.

The present study is aimed to ascertain whether differences in meditation proficiency alter rapid eye movement sleep (REM sleep) as well as the overall sleep-organization. Whole-night polysomnography was carried out using 32-channel digital EEG system. 20 senior Vipassana meditators, 16 novice Vipassana meditators and 19 non-meditating control subjects participated in the study. The REM sleep characteristics were analyzed from the sleep-architecture of participants with a sleep efficiency index >85%. Senior meditators showed distinct changes in sleep-organization due to enhanced slow wave sleep and REM sleep, reduced number of intermittent awakenings and reduced duration of non-REM stage 2 sleep. The REM sleep-organization was significantly different in senior meditators with more number of REM episodes and increased duration of each episode, distinct changes in rapid eye movement activity (REMA) dynamics due to increased phasic and tonic activity and enhanced burst events (sharp and slow bursts) during the second and fourth REM episodes. No significant differences in REM sleep organization was observed between novice and control groups. Changes in REM sleep-organization among the senior practitioners of meditation could be attributed to the intense brain plasticity events associated with intense meditative practices on brain functions.

Evaluation of interactive teaching for undergraduate medical students using a classroom interactive response system in India.

BACKGROUND: The classical didactic lecture has been the cornerstone of the theoretical undergraduate medical education. Their efficacy however reduces due to reduced interaction and short attention span of the students. It is hypothesized that the interactive response pad obviates some of these drawbacks. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an interactive response system by comparing it with conventional classroom teaching. METHODS: A prospective comparative longitudinal study was conducted on 192 students who were exposed to either conventional or interactive teaching over 20 classes. Pre-test, Post-test and retentions test (post 8-12 weeks) scores were collated and statistically analysed. An independent observer measured number of student interactions in each class. RESULTS: Pre-test scores from both groups were similar (p = 0.71). There was significant improvement in both post test scores when compared to pre-test scores in either method (p < 0.001). The interactive post-test score was better than conventional post test score (p < 0.001) by 8-10% (95% CI-difference of means - 8.2%-9.24%-10.3%). The interactive retention test score was better than conventional retention test score (p < 0.001) by 15-18% (95% CI-difference of means - 15.0%-16.64%-18.2%). There were 51 participative events in the interactive group vs 25 in the conventional group. CONCLUSIONS: The Interactive Response Pad method was efficacious in teaching. Students taught with the interactive method were likely to score 8-10% higher (statistically significant) in the immediate post class time and 15-18% higher (statistically significant) after 8-12 weeks. The number of student-teacher interactions increases when using the interactive response pads.

Improved sleep, cognitive processing and enhanced learning and memory task accuracy with Yoga nidra practice in novices.

Complementary and Alternative medicine is known to have health benefits. Yoga nidra practice is an easy-to-do practice and has shown beneficial effects on stress reduction and is found to improve sleep in insomnia patients. Effect of yoga nidra practice on subjective sleep is known but its effect on sleep and cognition objectively is not documented. The aim of the study was to study the effect of yoga nidra practice on cognition and sleep using objective parameters. 41 participants were enrolled, and baseline sleep diary (SD) collected. Participants volunteered for overnight polysomnography (PSG) and cognition testing battery (CTB) comprising of Motor praxis test, emotion recognition task (ERT), digital symbol substitution task, visual object learning task (VOLT), abstract matching (AIM), line orientation task, matrix reasoning task, fractal-2-back test (NBACK), psychomotor vigilance task and balloon analog risk task. Baseline CTB and after one and two weeks of practice was compared. Power spectra density for EEG at central, frontal, and occipital locations during CTB was compared. Repeat SD and PSG after four weeks of practice were done. After yoga nidra practice, improved reaction times for all cognition tasks were seen. Post intervention compared to baseline (95%CI; p-value, effect size) showed a significant improvement in sleep efficiency of +3.62% (0.3, 5.15; p = 0.03, r = 0.42), -20min (-35.78, -5.02; p = 0.003, d = 0.84) for wake after sleep onset and +4.19 µV2 (0.5, 9.5; p = 0.04, r = 0.43) in delta during deep sleep. Accuracy increased in VOLT (95% CI: 0.08, 0.17; p = 0.002, d = 0.79), AIM (95% CI: 0.03, 0.12; p = 0.02, d = 0.61) and NBACK (95% CI: 0.02, 0.13; p = 0.04, d = 0.56); ERT accuracy increased for happy, fear and anger (95% CI: 0.07, 0.24; p = 0.004, d = 0.75) but reduced for neutral stimuli (95% CI: -0.31, -0.12; p = 0.04, r = 0.33) after yoga nidra practice. Yoga Nidra practice improved cognitive processing and night-time sleep.

A study of the effect of nasal modes of ventilation on the incidence of gastro-oesophageal reflux in preterm neonates.

BACKGROUND: Nasal modes of respiratory support cause variable amounts of gastric dilatation which may increase gastro-oesophageal reflux (GER) in preterms. To compare the incidence of GER in nasally ventilated, preterm babies with controls (babies not on ventilation). TYPE OF STUDY: A prospective, observational comparative study. METHOD: Twenty-three preterm babies of gestational age 28-36 weeks and weight ranging between 1,000 g and < 2,500 g on either nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) or nasal intermittent positive pressure venti-lation (nIPPV) were assessed for GER. They were compared with controls not on ventilation some of who were test babies when off ventilation (subgroup A) and some were unrelated babies not on ventilator but matched for gestational age and weight with test babies (subgroup B). All babies were subjected to continuous, oesophageal pH monitoring with dual sensor (upper and lower oesophageal) catheters. Reflux index (RI) was calculated as the percentage of study time the lower oesophageal pH was < 4. Primary outcome was the RI in the test and controls groups. Secondary outcome was the temporal relation of the reflux with symptoms if any. Numerical data were shown as mean with standard deviation and statistical comparisons were done using the χ(2)-test, Fischer test, and t-test wherever applicable. RESULTS: The RI was higher in ventilated babies as compared to the control group, particularly in the subgroup A, where test babies formed their own controls. Grade IV reflux (7 cases) was seen only in the ventilated babies. There was no difference in the incidence of GER in babies on nCPAP as compared with nIPPV. Grade IV reflux could not be reliably predicted by RI alone. No definite temporal relation between episodes of reflux and symptoms could be determined in this study. CONCLUSION: There is an increase in GER in preterms on nasal modes of ventilation. A combination of upper (pharyngeal) and lower oesophageal sensors are preferred to a single lower oesophageal sensor when assessing GER by oesophageal pHmetry in neonates.

Electrophysiological Evidence of Local Sleep During Yoga Nidra Practice.

Background and Objectives: Yoga nidra is a technique sages use to self-induce sleep. Classically, sleep is characterized by three cardinal electrophysiological features, namely, electroencephalography (EEG), electromyography (EMG), and electrooculography (EOG). As the literature on electrophysiological characterization of Yoga nidra is lacking, it is not known whether it is a sleep or awake state. The objective of the study was to electrophysiologically characterize yoga nidra practice. Materials and Methods: Thirty subjects underwent five initial supervised yoga nidra sessions and then continued practice on their own. The subjects completed their sleep diaries for 2 weeks before and during the intervention. The electrophysiological characterization was done after 2 weeks of yoga nidra practice using 19 EEG channels polysomnography for pre-yoga nidra, yoga nidra practice and post-yoga nidra. Polysomnographic data were scored for sleep-wake stages as per standard criteria. Power spectral density (PSD) was calculated from various frequency bands in different time bins. EEG data were grouped by areas, namely, central, frontal, prefrontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital in time bins. Sleep diary parameters were also compared for pre-post-yoga nidra training. Results: After 2 weeks of yoga nidra practice, awake was scored throughout the session (n = 26). PSD results (mean difference in dB between different time bins; P value) showed significant changes. When compared to pre-yoga nidra, there was an increase in delta power in the central area (1.953; P = 0.033) and a decrease in the prefrontal area (2.713; P = 0.041) during yoga nidra. Sleep diary showed improvement in sleep duration (P = 0.0001), efficiency (P = 0.0005), quality (P = 0.0005), and total wake duration (P = 0.00005) after 2 weeks of practice. Interpretations and Conclusions: Yoga nidra practice in novices is electrophysiologically an awake state with signs of slow waves locally, often referred to as local sleep. Clinical Trial: Clinical Trial Registry of India, http://www.ctri.nic.in/Clinicaltrials/pmaindet2.php? trialid = 6253, 2013/05/003682.

Effect of a single dose of standard levodopa on cardiac autonomic function in Parkinson's disease.

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease (PD) is associated with autonomic dysfunction and chronic levodopa therapy has been reported to impair the autonomic control of heart rate. AIM: Our aim was to assess the immediate effect of a single dose of levodopa on heart rate variability (HRV) in idiopathic PD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eleven patients of idiopathic PD (F:M =2:9, mean age 57.3±8.6 years, duration of illness 4.1±2.8 years, Hoehn and Yahr stage 2.1±0.2) on stable levodopa dosage were studied. Motor part of unified Parkinson's disease rating scale and resting Lead II electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings were performed at baseline (12 hours off medication) and after two tablets of 100/10 mg of standard levodopa/ carbidopa. ECG was recorded continuously in the first hour (H1) followed by a 15-min recording in second (H2), third (H3) and fourth (H4) hours. Artifact free 5-min segments of the ECG were analyzed offline to obtain the HRV parameters in time domain (ms) and frequency domains (ms 2 ). RESULTS: Significant increase was observed in standard deviation of normal to normal intervals (23.5±2.7-46.2±6.6, P<0.05), root mean square of successive differences of NN intervals (16.3±2.9-30.7±5.1, P<0.01), total power (568.9±125.7-2739±667.5, P<0.01), low frequency power (146.5±40.8-614.1±206.7, P<0.05) and high frequency power (107.4±33.9-332.7±85.9, P<0.05) in H1. CONCLUSION: The results are suggestive of an improvement in the overall variability of the heart rate indicating an enhanced vagal tone.

The effect of posture on esophageal pH in endoscopy normal reflux disease (ENRD) cases.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: Endoscopy Normal Reflux Disease (ENRD) is a common presentation of reflux disease. These patients are symptomatic but do not have abnormal endoscopy findings. They may have pathological intraesophageal reflux. Lifestyle modifications are the mainstay of management of these patients. Posture plays an important role in their management. It was felt that exact quantification of reflux pattern with different postures in ENRD cases should be studied to include it as a part of management of these cases. BASIC PROCEDURES: Fifteen male patients were studied. 24 h ambulatory pH metry was done for all patients. Half an hour recording was studied for various postures: supine, supine with 30 degrees head end elevated, upright, right and left lateral recumbent position. The data of pH metry for half an hour of each of these postures was studied. RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION: All fifteen patients were ENRD cases and were upright refluxers. None of them had an abnormal supine reflux pattern. The percentage time of reflux and the reflux episode duration was significantly low in supine (P<0.05) and supine with 30 degrees head end elevated (P<0.005). CONCLUSION: In our study of 15 upright refluxers, supine with 30 degrees head end elevated and supine position were the postures associated with least reflux. Posture can help reduce the reflux significantly and can be used as an effective means in management.

Sleep and Covid-19.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 pandemic has affected the world globally causing widespread repercussions on individuals' physical, mental and emotional well-being. In such times, sleep is likely to be affected. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to present the available literature on sleep and also the foresight as to the future national strategy to mitigate the effects of this pandemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An extensive literature search on PubMed, Google Scholar, Epistemonikos database (https://www.epistemonikos.org), PsycINFO for available literature on the prevalence of sleep problem on COVID-19 was done. Cross-citation search was also conducted to increase relevance of the review. The key words used were- (((((((((((insomnia)) OR (sleep)) OR (sleepiness)) OR ("sleep quality")) OR (OSA)) OR ("obstructive sleep apnoea")) OR ("obstructive sleep apnea")) OR (("sleep problem")) AND "covid-19" OR covid19* OR "COVID-19" OR "2019-nCoV" OR cv19* OR "cv-19" OR "cv 19" OR "n-cov" OR ncov* OR "sars-cov-2" OR "sars-cov2" OR "2019-ncov" OR "SARS-Coronavirus-2" OR "SARS-Coronavirus2" OR (wuhan* AND (virus OR viruses OR viral)) OR (covid* AND (virus OR viruses OR viral)) OR "covid-19-related" OR "SARS-CoV-2-related" OR "SARS-CoV2-related" OR "2019-nCoV-related" OR "cv-19-related" OR "n-cov-related"). Inclusion criteria consisted of articles in English, published from Jan 2020 till 19 Apr 2020. Two reviewers independently screened each research study for inclusion and eligibility. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Sleep is affected during COVID-19 pandemic in patients, their families, health-care workers and their families, population in isolation, and quarantine and as such in public. Limited literature exists with subjective data and no objective criteria were found to study sleep in COVID-19 pandemic. OSA was found to be a frequent baseline characteristic of COVID-19 patients. A need to follow guidelines is of paramount importance and strategies to better sleep in the population needs to be addressed.