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.

Conclusion: 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.