Quality of Sleep among the Post Operative Patients at a Tertiary Care Hospital: An Observational Study

TL;DR

This study found that most patients experience poor sleep after surgery, particularly in the first week, with higher rates among women, middle-aged adults, and married individuals.

Contribution

The study provides insights into the prevalence and characteristics of poor sleep quality in postoperative patients at a tertiary care hospital.

Findings

92 out of 133 postoperative patients (69.17%) were identified as poor sleepers.

Daytime dysfunction was the most severe sleep issue reported among poor sleepers.

Poor sleep was most common in the first week after surgery and among married individuals.

Abstract

A good sleep is important for recovery after stress like surgeries in patients. This study aims to study the quality of sleep postoperatively in our population to know the distribution of poor sleepers.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out from February, 2025 to April, 2025 after receiving ethical approval 081/082] in tertiary care hospital. The patients who were 18 years and above residing in the hospital after any surgery were included in the study. The general information of the patients was recorded followed by the responses in Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Questionnaire. Data was entered in Microsoft Excel 2016 and analysis was done using IBM SPSS Statistics version 16.0 and the descriptive statistics was used in the variables considered.

Out of 141 postoperative cases, only 133 participants were included for the analysis of Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index questionnaire responses. The prevalence of poor sleepers was 92 (69.17%, 95% CI: 60.58%-76.89%). Severe difficulty was observed in the daytime dysfunction (27; 20.30%), sleep quality (17; 12.78%), and sleep latency (17; 12.78%) components of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Among the poor sleepers, 67 (50.37%) were female, 40 (30.07%) were in the 40-59 years age group, and 86 (64.66%) were married. Of the total poor sleepers, 64 (48.12%) were within one week of the postoperative period.

Poor sleep quality was prevalent after surgery, especially in the first week. It was more noticeable among females, middle-aged adults, and married individuals.