Evaluation of quality of sleep and effecting factors in hospitalized neurosurgical patients

Objective: To evaluate the quality of sleep and effectingfactors in hospitalized patients in a neurosurgery clinic.Methods: This research was conducted as a descriptive studyin a neurosurgery clinic of a University Hospital, in Turkey,between November 2005 and June 2006. The study sampleconsisted of 102 patients who met the inclusion criteriaand agreed to participate in the study. Data were collectedusing the “Questionnaire Form,” which included sociodemographic,illness, sleep, and hospital characteristics,and the “Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index” (PSQI). Thedata obtained were assessed by SPSS 10.00 Program, usingnumber, percentage, arithmetic mean, t-test, variance, andcorrelation analysis.Results: The mean age of the patients was 43.22±16.72years, 54.9% were females, and 72.5% were married.Hospitalization duration of the patients was 14.31±8.97days on average, 84.3% had previous hospital experience,and 72.5% had knowledge about their illnesses. Of them,51% expressed a sleep problem. Pain (41.2%) and noise(31.4%) was found to affect the sleep quality of hospitalizedpatients. Of the patients hospitalized in the neurosurgeryward, 64.7% were found to have poor quality of sleep priorto admission, while poor quality of sleep was determined for49% before being discharged from the hospital. However, abetter sleep quality was noted prior to discharge, comparedto that at their admission to the hospital.Conclusions: Varied degrees of quality of sleep have beenreported by the patients and influences of personal andenvironmental factors on sleep quality have been noted.Strategies to enhance physical and mental comfort, andto minimize disruptions should positively enhance sleepquality.