Abstract
Introduction: Insomnia is a common problem among old age population. Almost half of all old age adults report difficulty in initiating and maintaining sleep. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of insomnia, its associated factors and effects in old age adults. Methods: This was an observational analytical study where adults above 60 years of age from a ward of a village development committee were included. Data were collected for a period of four months. Insomnia was measured by Athens Insomnia Scale and structured questionnaires were used to assess the effects of insomnia. Descriptive statistics were presented as frequency and percentages. Association between variables was assessed with Chi-square test or Fisher's Exact test as appropriate. Results: There were a total of 55 participants in the study. Insomnia was prevalent in 56.4% (n=31) of the study population. Among the studied socio-demographic variables, presence of medical illness was significantly associated with insomnia. Insomnia was significantly associated with morning headache, irritability, unhappiness, fatigue, lack of concentration, day time sleepiness, avoiding interaction with people, and need of sedative for sleep. Conclusion: Majority of the old age adults suffer from insomnia with night awakenings as the most common symptom. Insomnia significantly affects various aspects of life at an old age.
Highlights
Insomnia is a common problem among old age population
Insomnia is a common sleep disorder consisting of an inability to fall asleep or remain asleep throughout the night, early morning awakening, or sleep that is poor in quality associated with daytime impairment such as fatigue, memory impairment, social or vocational dysfunction, or mood disturbance.[1]
We analyzed the difference in gender in our sample where there were 32 (58.2%) male and 23 (41.8%) female with a F:M ratio of 0.72:1 using Chi-square goodness of fit test and found that the difference was not statistically significant (X2=1.69, df=1, p=0.19)
Summary
Insomnia is a common problem among old age population. Almost half of all old age adults report difficulty in initiating and maintaining sleep. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of insomnia, its associated factors and effects in old age adults. Insomnia is a common sleep disorder consisting of an inability to fall asleep or remain asleep throughout the night, early morning awakening, or sleep that is poor in quality associated with daytime impairment such as fatigue, memory impairment, social or vocational dysfunction, or mood disturbance.[1] Sleep disorders and sleeping difficulties are among the most pervasive and poorly addressed problems of ageing and may lead to substantially impaired health, cognitive decline, and reduced quality of life.[2]. 30-60% of the general population in the industrial world suffer from insomnia symptoms, of whom 10-20% have chronic insomnia.[5] Published literature on this issue from our part of geography is scarce. This study, aims to identify the prevalence of insomnia, its associated factors and effect in old age adults in a Nepalese community
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