Mood and anxiety disorders, and sleep quality among elderly residents in nursing homes: is there a relationship

BACKGROUND: Elderly population is at high risk for sleep disorders, and several studies have demonstrated their prevalence. Poor sleep quality resulted in poor quality of life while the old age population group is increasing. So, it is essential to identify the related risk factors which lead to poor sleep quality. This study investigates the relationship of mood and anxiety disorders in the elderly with poor sleep quality in nursing homes of Tehran, Iran, in 2018-2019. METHODS: It was a cross-sectional study on 100 elderly people in nursing homes of Tehran, Iran, with poor sleep quality based on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Then, mood and anxiety disorders were evaluated through a Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID). RESULTS: In this study, 73% of participants were suffering from sleep disorders of which 21.9% had mood and 16.4% had anxiety disorders. Sleep latency, daytime dysfunction and sleep quality had significantly higher scores in elderly with poor sleep quality having mood disorders. Also, sleep duration was related to anxiety disorders. There was no relationship between age, gender and the duration of residency in nursing homes and mood and anxiety disorders. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that most elderly residents in nursing homes suffer from sleep disorders accompanied by a higher rate of mood disorders and a lower rate of anxiety disorders. KEY WORDS: Aged; Sleep quality; Mood disorders; Anxiety disorders