Sleep Quality in Prisoners with Substance Use Disorder (SUD) in Iran—a Cross-sectional Study

ABSTRACT

Background: Prisoners are a high-risk population with a high prevalence of psychiatric diseases and substance use disorder (SUD).

Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate sleep quality and the related risk factors in prisoners with SUD in Iran.

Method: In This descriptive cross-sectional study, a group of prisoners from Tehran Central Prison with a history of SUD were presented with a questionnaire to answer. The questionnaire had two parts: the first part served to gather demographic information and the second part was the standard Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI).

Results: From the sample population (N = 500), 382 prisoners completed the questionnaire (response rate: 76.4%). The prevalence of poor sleep quality was 87.7%. Poor sleep quality was shown to associate with the total duration of imprisonment, the remainder of the prison term, having a tattoo, history of sedative use, use of more than one substance, and use of more than one sedative. No association was found between sleep quality and either age, incarceration history, or daily methadone dose.

Conclusion: This study shows a high prevalence of poor sleep quality in prisoners with substance use disorder, indicating that prisoners need special care for their sleep problems.

KEYWORDS:

• Sleep quality
• substance use disorder
• prisoner
• PSQI

Acknowledgments

We cordially thank Mr. Jafari, a prison nurse at Tehran Central Prison, who helped us in carrying out the study.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

We have no conflict of interest to declare.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) under grant number 97-01-178-37589.