A Survey on Sleep Quality in Elderly People Living in a Nursing Home in Damghan City in 2017: A Short Report

Poor sleep quality is one of the most common problems that elderly people face. The present study aimed at assessing sleep quality among elderly population living in an aged nursing home in Damghan in 2017.
In this cross-sectional study, 34 elderly people living in a nuesing home were studied through census method. The tools used for data collection were a questionnaire consisted of two demographic information parts and a questionnaire of Pittsburgh sleep standards, which were completed after interviewing the participants. One-way ANOVA, independent t-test, and Pearson’s correlation test were used for data analysis.
The mean and standard deviation of the elderly participants were 73.71±12.1 years. In overall, 73.5% of participants experienced unfavorable sleep quality. Women reported more sleep quality (81.5%) than men (61.5%). Statistical associations were found between age (p=0.021), gender (p=0.033), marital status (p=0.019), and duration of staying in shelter (p=0.042) with sleep quality.
Overall, the results indicate a high prevalence of undesirable sleep in the elderly people. Sleep disorders should be considered as a serious health problem in elderly population. It seems that identifying elderly people with sleep disorders and providing advisory services might be a valuable suggestion.