Assessing sleep quality and associated factors among the elderly living in rural Chiang Rai, northern Thailand

Thichumpa, Weerakorn; Howteerakul, Nopporn; Suwannapong, Nawarat; Tantrakul, Visasiri

doi:2018.0.0.e2018018

Original article

Epidemiology and Health 2018;e2018018.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2018018 [Accepted] Published online May 14, 2018.

Assessing sleep quality and associated factors among the elderly living in rural Chiang Rai, northern Thailand

Weerakorn Thichumpa¹

, Nopporn Howteerakul¹

, Nawarat Suwannapong²

, Visasiri Tantrakul³

¹Department of Epidemiology, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
²Department of Public Health Administration, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
³Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care, Department of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand

Correspondence Nopporn Howteerakul ,Tel: +66 (0) 2354-8541, Fax: +66 (0) 2354-8567, Email: nopporn.how@mahidol.ac.th

Submitted: February 7, 2018 Accepted after revision: May 14, 2018

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:
This study aimed to indentify the prevalence of poor sleep quality and its associated factors among community-dwelling elderly in northern Thailand.
METHODS:
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 266 randomly selected elderly from a sub-district in rural Chiang Rai Province, northern Thailand. The elderly people were interviewed using the Thai version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (T-PSQI).
RESULTS:
About 44.0% of the participants had poor sleep quality (PSQI score >5), 9.4% used sleep medication, 27.1% had poor family relationships and 12.0% had mild depression. Multiple logistic regression analyses indicated that being female (OR=1.74, 95%CI 1.10-3.02), higher education level (OR=3.03 95%CI 1.34-6.86 for primary school vs no school; OR=2.48 95%CI 1.31-5.44 for >primary school vs no school), mild depression (OR=2.65, 95%CI 1.11-6.36), and poor family relationships (OR=3.65, 95%CI 1.98-6.75) were significantly associated with poor sleep quality.
CONCLUSIONS:
The prevalence of poor sleep quality among the elderly was moderately high. Healthcare providers should regularly conduct screening for sleep quality and depression; provide sleep health education; run interventions to encourage participation in family activities, resolution of conflicts, sharing of ideas and making of compromises within the family.

Keywords: sleep quality; rural elderly; prevalence; depression; family relations