Test-Retest Reliability of a Bilingual Arabic-English Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index among Adolescents and Young Adults with Good or Poor Sleep Quality

Prevalence and factors associated with poor sleep quality among nurses in COVID-19 wards

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the working conditions of nurses, leading to a detrimental effect on their sleep quality. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the prevalence of poor sleep quality and its associated factors among nurses working in COVID-19 wards in Kermanshah, Iran. A total of 97 nurses were selected through simple random sampling from COVID-19 wards. Data was collected using a demographic information sheet and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Descriptive and inferential statistical methods, including chi-square and multiple logistic regression, were used for data analysis. The results showed that 74.2% (n = 72) of the nurses experienced poor sleep quality. Significant associations were found between poor sleep quality and work experience (p = 0.045) as well as the type of work shift (p = 0.001). However, no significant relationships were observed between poor sleep quality and factors such as age, sex, body mass index, overtime hours per month, physical activity, or underlying diseases. The high prevalence of poor sleep quality among nurses working in COVID-19 wards underscores the necessity of implementing targeted interventions to address this issue. In this regard, in addition to periodic shift schedule changes and reductions in working hours, it is necessary to adopt purposeful measures to improve working conditions and enhance the physical and mental health of nurses. These measures may include providing sufficient human resources to reduce the workload and fatigue of nurses, appropriate scheduling of working hours, and the implementation of stress management programs.

The Effect of a Cognitive Dual Task on Gait Parameters among Healthy Young Adults with Good and Poor Sleep Quality: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Background: Sleep quality is known to affect automatic and executive brain functions such as gait control and cognitive processing. This study aimed to investigate the effect of dual tasks on gait spatiotemporal parameters among young adults with good and poor sleep quality. Methods: In total, 65 young adults with a mean age of 21.1 ± 2.5 were assessed for gait analysis during single-task and dual-task conditions. The participants' sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and gait was assessed using the BTS Gaitlab System. The participants were asked to walk at natural speed as a single-task condition, followed by walking while performing a cognitive task as a dual-task condition. The parameters assessed included the gait velocity (m/s), cadence (steps/min), step width (m), and stride length (m). The dual-task cost (DTC) on each gait parameter was calculated. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the differences in the DTC on gait variables between the good and poor sleep quality groups and the Spearman correlation test was used to assess the correlation between total PSQI scores and the DTC. Results: At a significance level of p < 0.05, a significant difference in cadence between the two sleep quality groups was observed, in addition to a positive correlation between sleep quality and the DTC effect on gait mean velocity, cadence, and stride length. Our findings also revealed a greater DTC in participants with poorer sleep quality. Conclusions: These findings contribute to our perception of the significance of sleep quality in gait performance while multitasking in younger populations.