Sleep quality, anxiety, and depression levels in relatives of patients hospitalized in intensive care units and palliative care services in Afyonkarahisar

Objectives: This study was conducted to determine the sleep quality, anxiety, and depression levels of relatives of patients hospitalized in our intensive care unit and palliative service, as well as to establish the connection of these conditions with age, gender, marital status, educational status, and closeness to the patient. Materials And Methods: Our study was conducted at Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University Hospital between 04.09.22 and 04.09.23 with a total of 151 relatives of patients hospitalized in our intensive care unit or palliative ward. Relatives with a history of psychiatric illness or whose patients were hospitalized for less than 1 week were not included in the study. Age, gender, marital status, educational status, and proximity to the patient were evaluated. Sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Depression and anxiety symptoms were evaluated using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), respectively. The mean age of the participants was 47.48 years with a standard deviation of 14.93. Of the participants, 49.7% were female and 50.3% were male. Among the participants, 87.4% were married and 11.9% were single. Regarding educational status, 4% of the respondents were illiterate, 29.1% were primary school graduates or below, 21.9% were secondary school graduates, 15.9% were high school graduates, 18.5% were college graduates, and 10.6% had a bachelor's degree or higher education. When the closeness to the patient was analyzed, 65.6% were 1st degree relatives, 11.3% were 2nd degree relatives, 9.3% were distant relatives, and 13.9% were spouses. Results: It was found that 63.6% of the patient relatives had anxiety symptoms and 53.6% had depression symptoms. Additionally, 97.4% of the patient relatives were associated with poor sleep quality. The mean Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index score was 9.61±3.16, the mean Beck Depression Inventory score was 16.61±11.18, and the mean Beck Anxiety Inventory score was 17.66±14.14. As a result of the analysis, the Pittsburgh sleep indices of those who answered as 1st degree relatives were higher than those who answered as distant relatives. Women's depression scores were higher than men's scores. The depression scores of 1st degree relatives and spouses were higher than those of 2nd degree relatives. The anxiety scores of those aged 70 and above were higher than those of the 31-43 age group. Women's anxiety scores were higher than men's. The anxiety scores of those who answered as spouses were higher than those of 2nd degree relatives. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores of relatives of patients in intensive care were higher than those of relatives of patients in palliative care. However, the Beck Anxiety scores of relatives of patients in palliative care were higher than those of relatives of patients in intensive care. Conclusions: It has been shown that anxiety and depression levels in relatives of intensive care and palliative service patients increased and sleep quality deteriorated. Additionally, as depression and anxiety levels increase, sleep quality deteriorates. Keywords: Patient relatives, anxiety, depression, sleep quality.