Abstract
Aim: This study was aimed to determine the relationship between sleep quality and mental health of veterans in comparison with that of their spouses and a control group. Methods: Thirty-seven chemical veterans with moderate to severe injury based on the standards of Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs were selected from Mazandaran province. Then, the spouses of 31 of them were selected and 15 of their close relatives also enrolled in the study as the control group. The three groups were evaluated by GHQ for their mental health and Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) for sleep quality. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS software 16 and descriptive and analytic statistical methods. Results: The mean score of mental health in veterans, their spouses and close relatives were 44.13 ± 14.4, 34.19 ± 15.2 and 21.73 ± 17.32, respectively. The mean scores of PSQI test in veterans, their spouses, and their close relatives were 10.94 ± 5.6, 8.7 ± 5.5 and 4.27 ± 1 that the difference was statistically significant among the three groups (P ≤ 0.0001). A positive relationship was seen between mental health and sleep quality in veterans and their spouses respectively (r = 0.4, P = 0.02) and (r = 0.83, P
Highlights
Mental health is more than absence or lack of disease
Our study reveals that 86.1% of the chemical veterans suffer from poor sleep quality, while only 13.9% of them had good sleep quality, which is similar to the findings of Tavallaii et al [17]
In the current study 37.5% of veterans’ close relatives had poor sleep quality, it has been reported 10% - 60% in different studies conducted on poor sleep quality with different age ranges [18,22,23]
Summary
Mental health is more than absence or lack of disease. The positive aspect of mental health, which is emphasized and defined by World Health Organization (WHO), is: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity [1].”. Mental health is a state of welfare in which the individuals know their capabilities and can cope with the normal life stress. They can be practical and productive in their occupation and cooperate with others as a member of the society [2]. Sleep affects the immune response of the body [6,7]
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