"They can rest at home": an observational study of patients' quality of sleep in an Australian hospital

Poor sleep is known to adversely affect hospital patients' recovery and rehabilitation. The aim of the study was to investigate the perceived duration and quality of patient sleep and identify any environmental factors associated with patient-reported poor sleep in hospital. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 15 clinical units within a 672-bed tertiary-referral hospital in Australia. Semi-structured interviews to determine perceptions of sleep quantity and quality and factors that disturb nocturnal sleep were conducted with patients and nursing staff. Environmental noise, light and temperature were monitored overnight, with concurrent logging of noise sources by observers. Patients reported a mean reduction in hospital sleep duration, compared to home, of 1.8 h (5.3 vs. 7.1 h; p