Study of Insomnia, Day Time Sleepiness and Sleep Quality among South Indian Nurses

Abstract

Introduction: Good quality and adequate sleep is important for good cognitive, psychological and physical health. Nurses who work closely with patients need to have sound mental and physical health for proper health care delivery. Aim: To evaluate the incidence of insomnia, day time sleepiness and sleep quality among South Indian nurses. Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted at NRI Medical College, Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India and Vijaya Hospital, Belgaum, Karnataka, India during the period of August to December 2016. One hundred and ninety nurses were included in the study. Among 190 nurses, 42 were males and 148 were females. Three questionnaires namely, Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Regensburg Insomnia Scale (RIS) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were included in the study. These questionnaires were distributed among the nurses and the questions were explained to them in their local language. Measures of central tendency, dispersion and chisquare tests were used for analysis of the data. Results: Significant higher values of sleep disorders were found. On analysis the PSQI and RIS scoring were significant whereas ESS scoring was found to be insignificant. In the present study 77 (40.5%) out of 190 nurses were found to be suffering from insomnia. 88 (46.31%) nurses had poor sleep quality and 48 (25.26%) nurses were suffering from daytime sleepiness whereas 30 (15.78%) of nurses had borderline daytime sleepiness. The highest number of cases was seen in nurses having one to three years of experience. Conclusion: The present study suggests that a large fraction of South Indian nurses were found to be suffering from insomnia and poor sleep quality. Adequate number of nursing staff, shorter shift durations and meticulously planned night shifts are needed to improve the sleep health and well being of nurses which in turn will result in better and more efficient patient care.

Keywords

• epworth sleepiness scale
• night duty
• pittsburgh sleep quality index
• regensburg insomnia scale