Prevalence of sleep disturbances and their association with quality of life among the general population in Qassim, Saudi Arabia

Jolan Alsaud, Ghadi Alkhalaf, Rand Alsaleem, Betool Alqefari, Haifa Alfozan, Lama Alqaraawi and Siraj Wali

PLOS ONE, 2026, vol. 21, issue 8, 1-11

Abstract: To the best of our knowledge, no previous study has assessed the relationship between sleep disturbances and quality of life in the general population of Qassim, Saudi Arabia. Therefore, this cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the relationship between sleep disorders and quality of life and to determine how common sleep disturbances are in Qassim, Saudi Arabia. To this end, participants were randomly selected from public areas. Study data were collected through a survey covering sociodemographic details, health information, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) to assess sleep quality, and the Short Form-12 to measure health-related quality of life. The reliability of the scales was confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha. The association between sleep quality and quality of life was analyzed using t-tests, Pearson’s correlation, and hierarchical multiple regression. Of 1,241 participants, 64.5% were females, 94.8% were Saudi nationals, and 64.8% were students. The mean global PSQI score was 7.38 ± 3.19, with 70.2% of participants reporting poor sleep quality. The mean physical and mental component scores were 42.6 ± 7.98 and 38.9 ± 8.03, respectively. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that after controlling for demographic characteristics, chronic disease, and body mass index, sleep-related variables significantly predicted both physical and mental health-related quality of life. The analysis showed that sleep-related factors had a substantially larger predictive contribution toward mental health (ΔR2 = 5.7%) than toward physical health (ΔR2 = 1.0%). In conclusion, this study revealed a high rate of poor sleep quality (70.2%) in Qassim, Saudi Arabia, with notable negative effects on mental health. Increasing awareness and integrating sleep assessments into public health initiatives are crucial for improving sleep quality.

Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0347188

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0347188

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