A study to evaluate psychosocial and physical effects of partial sleep deprivation among post- menopausal women

Abstract

 Sleep deprivation is common among post- menopausal women which show multiple effects on social, physical and psychological health. The sleep deprivation and its effects are observed in both working women and homemakers. Insomnia is prevalent in premenopausal, menopausal and post-menopausal women. When insomnia and sleep deprivation becomes chronic, it leads to serious health problems like obstructive sleep apnea. Insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea result in daytime sleepiness, attention lapses, fatigue, headaches, hypertension. Post-menopausal women suffer from low self- esteem and are often in highly stressed state of mind, due to physical changes in body like weight gain, dark circles around eyes and hair fall, this in turn has an adverse effect on the quality of their life. Partial sleep deprivation further results in disturbance in the circadian rhythm. Sleep deprivation results in several long term health problems like heart disease, diabetes, malfunctioning of the thyroid gland, stroke, depression, etc. A study by Young et.al on middle aged women showed that severe obstructive sleep apnea was more widespread in postmenopausal women. Sleep deprivation also affects the mental well-being and social behavior of post-menopausal women. In this context, it becomes imperative to create an awareness among post-menopausal women about the necessity of getting good sleep at night to enhance the quality of life and also to improve their health after menopause. This study evaluates and analyses the psychosocial and physical influence caused by sleep deprivation. An attempt is made for a prospective contextual, descriptive research design and study. A convenient sample of post- menopausal women was randomly approached via a questionnaire. Data was analyzed and tabulated.