Objectives: The prevalence of insomnia in the elderly population is 50% to 70%. Since sleep hygiene education is the basic treatment for any type of sleep disorder, this study aimed to determine the effect of sleep hygiene education on the quality of sleep and general health of the elderly women aged 60-70 years with sleep disorders in Birjand City, Iran, in 2016.
Methods & Materials: This study is a clinical trial. The study sample comprised 84 women who met the inclusion criteria and were enrolled in the study by systematic random sampling. If the elderly had a sleep disorder based on the score of the insomnia severity index, she would be included in the intervention or control group. The data gathering tools were the Pittsburgh sleep quality index and general health questionnaire, which participants completed before training and then 4 weeks later. The obtained data were analyzed in SPSS V. 21.
Results: There was no significant difference in demographic data other than age, which was 64±3.3 years in the intervention group and 62±2.7 years in the control group. There were significant differences between the intervention and control groups in the mean scores of sleep quality, severe insomnia, and public health after the intervention (P<0.001).
Conclusion: According to the results of this study, sleep hygiene education can improve sleep quality, the severity of insomnia, and general health of older women. Therefore, it can be used as an affordable and accessible therapeutic approach.