Sleep deprivation and its associated factors among general ward patients at a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the occurrence rate of sleep deprivation and to identify the environmental, staff-related and patient-related factors associated with SD among general ward patients of a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan.


METHODS
In a cross-sectional study, a pre-tested questionnaire was administered to 108 patients admitted into the general medical and general surgical wards of Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi.


RESULTS
In all, 50 (46.3%) respondents felt deprived of adequate sleep in the hospital. Worry about illness disturbed the night-time sleep of 47 (43.5%) patients; most of these had SD (70%) (p < 0.001). Other patients' noise disturbed 31.5% of study subjects and a significant majority (68%) of these had SD (p = 0.003). Over 17% of study subjects reported cell phone's ringing as a disturbing factor; more by those with SD (68%) compared to those with no SD (32%); again the difference was significant (p = 0.003). Physical discomfort and presence of cannula were reported as disturbing factors by 41.7% and 28.7% of the study subjects respectively but these were not significantly associated with SD.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study revealed that sleep deprivation occurs commonly among general ward patients in tertiary care setting. Factors found to be associated with SD were amenable to modification to a greater extent.
Shafiq
Majid
M
Medical College, Aga Khan University, Karachi.
Salahuddin
Farah F
FF
Siddiqi
Maham
M
Shah
Zaman
Z
Ali
Rehmat
R
Siwani
Rizwan A
RA
Saleem
Ayesha
A
Shaikh
Kashif Shakoor
KS
Khuwaja
Ali Khan
AK
D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006757:Hospital Units; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009622:Noise; D010154:Pakistan; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires