RESUMO
Sleep is an essential need in every individual's life. A disorder in the natural sleep can cause physical and mental problems. The elderly are usually faced with more sleep problems. Therefore, the present study aimed to define sleep behavior among the elderly hospitalized in Zahedan. This is a descriptive analytical study conducted on 300 elderly people aged 60 years and over who were hospitalized in Zahedan. In this research convenience sampling method was used and the research tool was a questionnaire. The data were collected through interviews. Descriptive [frequency distribution] and inferential [X[2]] statistical tests were employed to analyze the data. The results showed that 62% of the hospitalized elderly people [total of 300] had sleep disorder. About 44.7% took sleep medication in order to sleep, and only 16.7% did not take sleeping medications. About 44.7% had no special schedule for the time of their sleeping and waking up, and 4.3% were involved in drug abuse and smoking, and had a big dinner before sleeping. There was a significant association between sleep disorder, gender, education, living in urban or rural areas, the cause of hospitalization, and suffering from a chronic disease. Sleep disorder and inappropriate sleep related behaviors had a high prevalence among the elderly. With regard to the important role of sleep in the quality of life of the elderly, detection of the reasons of sleep disorder, motivating them to practice an appropriate sleep behavior, and preventing them from having inappropriate sleep related behaviors are crucial issues.