Family dynamics: sleep quality of women caregivers of family members with Alzheimer disease. Dinamiche nella famiglia: qualità del sonno delle donne che si prendono cura a casa di persone affette da morbo di Alzheimer (AD)

[Abstract This replication study/Riccio 1996) sets out to explore the Quality of sleep of 34 women primary caregivers of Alzheimer's Disease patients at home. A descriptive, correlational and longitudinal design has been used. Key aspects considered were the quality of nocturnal sleep, the daytime sleepiness, the hours of caring, the educational level, the employment, the time for personal needs and the levels of depression and anxiety. After an initial interview, the caregivers were asked to fill in several instruments to measure the variables taken into consideration. The caregivers presented poor quality in their sleep. Quality of nocturnal sleep was negatively affected by more hours of caring (p < 0.02), high depression and anxiety levels (p < 0.05 and 0.007 respectively). The education level, the employment outside home and the amount of time spent for themselves, positively affected the quality of sleep (p < 0.01, 0.04, 0.05 respectively). This research pointed out that hours of caring, directly and indirectly, cause sleep problem to Alzheimer's Disease caregivers enhancing nursing care implications.