Impact of Sleep Disturbances on the Quality of Life Among Schizophrenic Out-patients of Jimma University Medical Center, Southwest Ethiopia: Hospital Based Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Aim: Current study was aimed to assess the impacts of sleep disturbances on patient’s quality of life. Background: Schizophrenia is a syndrome, which affects sleep. Up to 80% of schizophrenic patients complain of sleep disturbances which affect the quality of life Objectives: To assess the association of sleep disturbances and quality of life and other contributing factors among schizophrenic patients on follow-up treatment at Jimma University Southwest Ethiopia. Methods: A cross-sectional study with a consecutive sampling of 411 out-patients at Jimma University medical center was employed from April 21-June 20, 2019. Sleep disturbances and the quality of life were assessed by Pittsburgh sleep quality index and WHOQOL-BREF, respectively. Epi data version 3.1 and SPSS version 23.0 software was used. Chi-square and independent samples t-test were used for association and P-value < 0.05 was considered for statistical significance. Results: Most participants had sleep disturbances and the mean score of positive scale on PANSS was higher for patients with sleep disturbances. About one-fourth of the patients had very good subjective sleep quality and > 85% of sleep efficiency was reported by 139 participants. More than half (51.1%) of the subjects had used sleep medication and the majority (64.7%) of them were reported daytime dysfunctions in the past month. The social domain (M±SD=3.92±2.51, t=8.46, p= <0.001, eta2=0.15) and overall WHOQOL (M±SD=57.60±16.87, t=9.24, p= < 0.001, eta2= 0.17) score had a large difference of means and about 15% and 17% of the variance in sleep disturbance have been explained. Conclusion: Generally, the finding of the current study was in agreement with most of the previous studies and sleep disturbances respectively moderate to significant effects on the patient’s quality of life.