2Ege Üniversitesi Hemşirelik Yüksekokulu İZMİR Introduction: The aim of this research was to examine the sleep pattern characteristics of elderly individuals who live in a nursing home and who do not have a cognitive disorder.
Materials and Methods: This research was conducted at Izmir Zübeyde Han›m Gürçeflme Nursing Home among 132 elderly individuals. Data were collected by a Descriptive Information Form and the Sleep Pattern Characteristics Questionnaire.
Results: The sleep related problems frequently experienced by the elderly were “waking up frequently after falling asleep” (58.3%), “feeling sleepy/not well rested after waking up” (56.1%), “dozing off after waking up” (56%), “having difficulty going back to sleep after waking up” (49.3%), and “having difficulty falling asleep” (47.8%). It was determined that there were statistically significant differences in the elderly individuals' sleep pattern characteristics according to their gender (t=4.643, p<0.01), physical health perception (F=9.621, p<0.01), emotional health perception (F=9.045, p<0.01), status of using medications for physical complaints (t=2.776, p<0.05), sleep quality perception (F=63.540, p<0.01), medication use for staying in nursing home by choice (t=-2.468, p<0.05).
Conclusion: Elderly individuals living in a nursing home were found to have difficulty in falling asleep, staying asleep and dozing off.
Keywords : Elderly, Nursing home, Sleep pattern characteristics