The Effectiveness of Sleep Health Education on Sleep Quality, Blood Pressure, Heart Rate and Oxygen Saturation in Blood of the Elderly with Insomnia

One of the problems of the elderly seems to be problems with the quality and quantity of sleep. Sleep is one of the most important health-restoring behaviors, and makes a person feel good. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of sleep hygiene education on sleep quality and physiological parameters of blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen saturation in the blood of elderly people with insomnia. This was a quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest and follow-up design with a control group. The study population consisted all the elderly with insomnia in Shiraz in 2019, from which 40 were selected using random sampling method and according to inclusion criteria, and were assigned into experimental and control groups. The elderly with a mean age of 70.48 years with insomnia were assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Blood Pressure Monitor and Pulse Oximeter. The experimental group underwent the sleep hygiene training based on Spa plan for four weekly 45-minutes sessions, and the control group did not receive any training. Data were analyzed using univariate analysis of covariance in SPSS-23 statistical package. The results showed that sleep hygiene training improved sleep quality, systolic blood pressure and oxygen saturation in the blood of the elderly with insomnia (P<0.05), but it had no effect on diastolic blood pressure and heart rate. It is noteworthy that the effectiveness of sleep hygiene education requires time for affecting the oxygen saturation in the blood in the next three months. The present study showed that insomnia treatment through sleep hygiene education improves sleep quality and physical and mental health of the elderly. Therefore, all officials and stakeholders, especially who works in the field of rehabilitation, are recommended to apply the sleep hygiene education in order to support of the elderly.