Sleep quality in elderly people treated in a military health unit

Introduction: There is a complex interaction of sleep between organic, physiological and emotional factors. In the elderly, there is usually a greater difficulty in sleeping, generating concern about the quality of sleep. Objective: Determine sleep quality, investigate correlations with medications, chronic diseases, physical activity and body mass index (BMI), and the existence of daytime sleepiness in elderly people aged 60 years and older, treated in a Military Hospital Unit. Methods: The instruments used for 86 elderly were: the Pittisburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Mini Sleep Questionnaire (MSQ) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). Results: In the analysis of the final score of the Pittsburg Scale, the result on sleep quality identified that 36% as good, 35% as poor, 29% with sleep disorders. In the MSQ, it was found that 48% of the elderly have severe sleep quality problems, 12% moderate problems, 19% mild problems and 22% have good sleep quality. On both scales, poor quality and possible sleep disorders are very significant. In the final score of the Daytime Sleepiness scale, the result showed that 73% have normal sleepiness, 23% have excessive sleepiness and 3% have severe sleepiness. Conclusions: The elderly surveyed presented problems with possible sleep disorders correlated with the use of psychotropic and sleep inducers, in addition to a reasonable frequency of excessive daytime sleepiness and severe sleepiness, significantly influencing sleep quality.