The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) is a self-report survey that assesses sleep quality over a 1-month time interval. The measure consists of 19 individual items, creating 7 components that produce one global score, and takes 5–10 minutes to complete.
The PSQI was created by Buysse,D.J., Reynolds,C.F., Monk,T.H., Berman,S.R., & Kupfer,D.J. in 1998. The aim of the development of this survey was to create a standardized measure that is designed to collect consistent information about the subjective nature of people’s sleep habits and provide a clear index that both clinicians and patients can use. The PSQI gained popularity as a proficient measure for sleep disorders.
Take the Sleep Quality Assessment Survey here: https://www.opapc.com/uploads/documents/PSQI.pdf
Factors that Affect our Sleeping Patterns
External Factors
- Light- bright light or any form of light can affect the quality of sleep negatively.
- Sound- noise at night can prevent you from falling asleep initially. Moreover, sounds during the night can wake you leaving you unable to return to sleep. Noises can create restlessness in sleep even if they don't wake you fully, and these interruptions affect sleep quality and the movement from lighter to deeper stages of sleep.
- Temperature- everyone sleeps better when cooler. A person’s temperature starts to rise towards the morning, preparing the body for wakefulness. Therefore, a high temperature can affect the quality of sleep negatively or even stop individuals from sleeping.
Lifestyle Factors
- Obesity- the strain that extra weight places on the body can result in problems like joint pain and arthritis. Being obese does not only contribute to increased pain, but also presents other sleep issues such as obstructive sleep apnea (breathing repeatedly stops for 10 seconds or more during sleep), which affects more than 18 million Americans.
- Physical Activities- individuals that suffer from chronic back pain fear that exercising will only increase the pain. However, exercising decreases pain and improves a person’s health. Consistent exercise, stretching/yoga, and muscle strengthening programs promote the body's natural healing process and make individuals feel better both mentally and physically.
- Nutrition- findings suggest that eating more protein during the day and select carbohydrates in the evening helps regulate sleep, wakefulness and energy levels. Furthermore, to achieve good quality sleep it is advised to not eat 2-3 hours before bedtime. Also, numerous common chemicals affect both quantity and quality of sleep. Many common chemicals affect both quantity and quality of sleep. These include caffeine, antihistamines, alcohol, and nicotine.
Medical Factors
- Stress- high stress levels can make sleeping more difficult. They can even lead to sleep disorders. At the same time, getting a good night's sleep can help reduce the effects of stress.
- Medical conditions- There are dozens of prescription drugs (used to help control common disease symptoms) that have varying effects on sleep. Beta blockers, which are used to treat high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, glaucoma, and migraines, often cause decreases in the amount of slow-wave sleep and are also associated with increased daytime sleepiness. Alpha blockers, which are also used to treat high blood pressure and prostate conditions, are linked to decreased and increased daytime sleepiness. Finally, antidepressants, which can decrease the duration of periods of sleep, have unknown long-term effects on sleep. Sleep can also be affected for by chronic pain or other discomfort.
Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Your Body Factors that Aid Good Quality Sleep
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