Depression and sleep problems in a Nigerian family practice setting

Abstract

Depressive symptoms in family practice clinics are often undetected, despite the fact they are associated with sleep disorders. There is paucity of data on the association between depression and sleep disorders in a Nigerian family practice setting, hence the need for this study. This was a hospital based study. Systematic sampling method was used in recruiting the patients. The PHQ-9 was administered to the respondents to screen for depressive symptoms. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to measure the quality and patterns of sleep in the respondents. One hundred and seventy eight (44.5%) out of the four hundred respondents were found to have one form of depression or other, out of which one hundred and seventy two (96.6%) had sleep disturbance, 39 (21.9%) stayed more than 60 minutes before falling asleep, 85 (47.7%) had poor subjective sleep quality, forty eight (36.9%) had taken medication (prescribed or over the counter) to assist in sleeping. These were statistically significant (p-values = 0.001, 0.000, 0.000 and 0.000) respectively. One hundred and fifty three (85.9%) were poor sleepers. One hundred and sixty one (90.4%) had habitual sleep efficiency greater than 85%, while 60 (33.7%) had trouble staying awake while driving, eating meals or engaging in social activities. Depression is common in primary care patients and is associated with sleep disturbance, sleep latency, poor subjective quality and medication before sleep. Sleep evaluation should be part of routine assessment of the new patients presenting at a family practice setting