Factors Affecting Quality of Sleep in Hospitalized Patients: A Cross-sectional Survey in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Background: Sleep is very important for humans and more so to hospitalized patients. Alterations in the normal sleep pattern have negative impact on the medical conditions, mental health, cognitive performance and recovery of the hospitalized individuals. The primary aim of this study was to assess the quality of sleep among hospitalized patients and to find the correlation between the factors affecting sleep and sleep quality. The secondary objective was to understand the quality of sleep in people admitted for surgical and medical treatment. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the hospitalized patients were examined. Sleeping habits of 100 inpatients of surgical and clinical wards were assessed through the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). A self-designed questionnaire was also used to ascertain the factors affecting the sleep. Content validity and test-retest reliability were evaluated. The data obtained were analyzed by the statistical methods of frequency, percentage, and Chi-square. Results: The cross-sectional study showed that the mean score for PSQI was 7.58 +/- 3.14 and that 69% of the patients had poor sleep as inferred from the global PSQI >5 scores. Age and gender had no effect on the PSQI total score, but the number of roommates, type of the ward, hospitalization period, presence and severity of pain, taking sleep medication, and attitude toward the overall atmosphere and interior of wards has caused deviation in scores. Conclusion: Sleep problems are quite frequent in medical inpatients. Pain management and modification of the ward interior and atmosphere can impact inpatients sleep quality.