Introduction & Objective: Hospitalization can significantly disrupt sleeping patterns. considering the prevalence of insomnia and widespread use of benzodiazepines and other hypnotics in hospitalized patients, we conducted this study to assess the quality of sleep and hypnotic drug use in hospitalized adult patients in 2007.

Materials & Methods: This descriptive analytical cross-sectional study involved an assessment of sleep quality for patients whose consent had been obtained when admitted to the internal ward of Hamadan Ekbatan hospital. The Pittsburg sleep quality index (PSQI) was used to measure the quality of sleep in patients and completed at the time of admission and discharge. Also the relation of factors such as age, sex. Marital status, education and sedating drug use prior to and during hospitalization with sleep quality were assessed. 300 patients entered this study and completed PSQI sleep questionnaires two twice, at the time of admission & discharge.

Results: At the time of admission only 36% of patients had good sleep quality (PSQI score <5) while this percent decreased to 18.3% at the time of discharge. Mean global PSQI score was 7.6 at the time of admission versus 9.4 at the time of discharge indicating the patients’ worse sleep quality at the time of discharge (Pv<0.05). 23% of patients received hypnotic drugs while in the hospital with no evidence of preadmission hypnotic use. Benzodiazepines were prescribed for all of them.

Conclusion: Quality of sleep at the time of discharge was significantly worse than it at the time of admission and it seems that despite widespread use of sedative drug in the hospital , there are still patients with poor sleep quality in the hospital.