A Descriptive Study to Assess the Quality of Sleep among the Elders Residing at Selected Old Age Homes, Salem

Sleep and rest are basic human needs essential to all individual's physical and psychological wellbeing. About one third of our lives are spent in sleeping. The purpose of sleep is a mystery; however it is necessary for good health and a sense of wellbeing. Sleep disturbances are the most common mental disorders reported among the older people in various countries. Thus, investigator felt the present study provide the information about the Quality of Sleep among elders residing at old age homes, Salem. The design adopted was descriptive research design. 60 elders were drawn from Henry old age home and Saradha old age home by non-probability, convenient sampling technique. The level of quality of sleep was assessed by using a Modified Pittsburgh Quality of sleep index scale. The data gathered were analyzed by using both descriptive&inferential statistics. The findings revealed that 3(5%) of them had good quality of sleep, 29(48.33%) of them had fair quality of sleep and 28(46.67%) of them had poor quality of sleep, There was significant association between the quality of sleep among elders with their selected demographic variables like marital status (λ²=12.56), educational status (λ²=21.38), and duration of stay (λ² = 14.39). Hence the Null hypothesis is rejected, for the above mentioned demographic variables. The result of this study showed that most of the elders had fair and poor quality of sleep.