Iranian Journal of War and Public Health

Aims: Chemical veterans suffer from a range of physical and mental diseases that affect their quality of sleep. There are different non-pharmaceutical ways to improve quality of sleep in these people. This study aimed to investigate the effect of sleep based on Islamic pattern on the quality of sleep of mustard gas victims.

Materials & Methods: This case-controlled two-group semi-experimental study was done on 70 mustard gas victims in Ilam City in 2012. Samples were selected among 168 Ilam chemical victims by achievable sampling method. Data were collected using demographic and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaires. Obtained data were entered to SPSS 16 for analysis and they were analysed by Paired-T and Independent-T tests.

Findings: There was significant difference in the mean scores all domains of quality of sleep in the next phase of intervention on quality of sleep in mustard gas victims, compared to the pre-training phase (p<0.05). There was no significant difference in the total score of sleep quality (the combination of Pittsburgh questionnaire seven phase scores) between two intervention (12.57±4.29) and control (11.09±4.67) groups before intervention (p=0.170; t=-1.387) but a significant difference was observed in this score between two control (11.43±5.00) and intervention (7.00±2.49) groups after intervention (p=0.0001; t=4.691).

Conclusion: Employing sleep pattern based on the spirituality according to Islam teachings is effective on quality of sleep in mustard gas victims.