Quality of sleep and its correlating factors in residents of Kahrizak nursing home.

Background & Aims: Information on sleep quality of elderly people and its correlating factors helps to develop proper strategies to minimize or maximize their effect. This study was conducted as little is known about sleep quality of the elderly and its correlative factors in Iran. Materials & Methods: It was a cross-sectional design. Capitation method was used to recruit 164 Kahrizak nursing home elderly subjects (April-May 2010). Assessing correlating factors and quality of sleep, a researcher-maid questionnaire and Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used respectively. The data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics. Result: Majority of participants had sleep disturbance (n:145, 88.4%); Most of them had slight (n:67, 40.9%) and moderate (n:61, 37.2%) sleep disturbance, respectively. There was direct association between sleep disturbance and physical activity (X2,P=.026), hot flashes (X²,P=.008), anxiety (X²,P=.05), connection with acquaintances (X²,P=.003), physical (r_s: .446, P=.000), psychological (r_s: .335, P=.000), and caring (r_s: .280, P=.000) factors. Conclusion: Although most elderly people suffer from slight-moderate sleep disturbances, high prevalence of hypnotic drug consumption suggest that the real prevalence and severity of sleep disturbance is higher than estimated one. The elderly sleep quality is associated with physical, psychosocial, and caring factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]