Emine Özer KÜÇÜK, Zuhal Candan YAMAK, Ethem Turgay CERİT, Hülya Nur SODAN, Gizem Özcan AKBAY
Journal of Health Sciences and Medicine - 2026;9(5):1472-1478
Aims: To evaluate sleep quality and identify sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with sleep quality among patients diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional approach was used, with data collected from February 5 through April 6, 2024, at a university hospital's thyroid outpatient unit. The study enrolled 94 patients with confirmed hypothyroidism. Data were collected using a researcher-designed Patient Identification Form and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Statistical evaluation included descriptive analyses, independent-samples t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and multiple linear regression. Results: Participants had a mean age of 51.72+/-11.18 years, with females comprising 89.4% of the sample. The mean sleep quality score was 7.21+/-4.77, and 62.8% of participants demonstrated poor sleep quality. Individuals with advanced educational backgrounds exhibited superior sleep quality, whereas those with concurrent health conditions and prior sleep difficulties showed substantially diminished sleep quality. Together, these three variables explained 22.0% of the variance in sleep quality outcomes (R²=0,22; F=8,31; p<0.001), with poorer sleep quality independently associated with lower educational level (beta=-1.11), pre-diagnosis sleep problems (beta=4.26), and presence of comorbidities (beta=2.44). Conclusion: A considerable proportion of participants in this study experienced poor sleep quality. Lower educational attainment, the presence of comorbidities, and pre-diagnosis sleep problems were independently associated with poorer sleep quality. These findings underscore the importance of routinely assessing sleep quality during the clinical follow-up of patients with hypothyroidism and developing individualized nursing interventions within a holistic care framework.
