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Assessment of Sleep Habits and Quality of Sleep among Elderly Residing in Rural Areas of Patiala: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Survey

INTRODUCTION: Among the elderly, sleep problems are quite prevalent and can lead to many adverse health consequences. AIM: To assess the quality of sleep among the elderly residing in rural population and factors related to it, and provide necessary recommendations for its prevention. MATERIALS AND METHOD: In this cross-sectional study, elderly aged above 60 years residing in Patiala were taken and were interviewed separately using the modified version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), which was pre-tested and pre-validated prior to commencement of the study. Data recorded was divided into seven components and each component had an individual range of 0 (no difficulty) to 3 (severe difficulty) points and added to obtain a combined score of the individual with a range of 0(no difficulty)-21(severe difficulty) points. Based on the combined score,  elderly obtaining a total score of 5 or greater was classified as having  “poor sleep quality”. Statistics were applied using SPSS version 22.0, using the student’s t- test, and multivariate analysis. A p value < 0.05 was considered as significant. RESULTS: Out of 108 elderly people, most of the participants (62.9%) belonged to the age group of 60-75 years, out of which the majority (65.7%) were males. Most elderly reported having “fairly good” subjective sleep quality (53.7%, p=0.01) and was found to be significant with a global PQSI score of 7.22±4.31. Multivariate analysis revealed that significant “poor sleep quality” was observed in elderly aged above 75 years (OR:1.25, p=0.01) followed by elderly who were Immobilized (wheelchair/Bed ridden) (OR: 1.87, p=0.01). CONCLUSION: Efforts should be directed towards proper education of not only the elderly, but their children as well as colleagues and guardians to improve the sleep score of the elderly population.