Sleep quality in hospitalized patients.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare sleep quality of the hospitalized patients and matched healthy controls.

BACKGROUND: Although the functions of sleep are not clearly understood, it is generally accepted that it is necessary for the maintenance of good health. Hospitalized patients' sleep may not be refreshing or restorative. The reasons for this can be categorized into three groups: environmental, physiological and psychological.

DESIGN AND METHODS: This research was conducted at the Cumhuriyet University Hospital in Turkey. One hundred and fifty hospitalized patients (psychiatry = 50; orthopaedic + general surgery + cardiovascular surgery + urology = 50; internal medicine + chest diseases + infectious diseases + physical therapy and rehabilitation = 50) and 50 healthy controls constituted the sample. The researchers administered to the patient and control groups Sociodemographic Information Form and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. We compared sociodemographic and illness variables with sleep characteristics. The following statistical analyses were used in order to evaluate the data: variance analysis, Tukey HSD test, Student's t-test, Kruskall-Wallis test.

RESULTS: We found that patients in psychiatric ward experienced worse sleep quality than the other patients, worse in female patients than male patients, and worse sleep characteristics in patients than controls.

CONCLUSIONS: Health professionals must be educated about sleep and must provide intervention when needed. Relevance to clinical practice. The enhancing of sleep quality accelerates to the recovery from illness.