The Relationship Between Mindfulness and Tolerance of Ambiguity with Death Anxiety and Improving Sleep Quality in the Elderly

Conducting research in the field of the elderly, who will form the majority of the population of Iran in the coming years, and identifying the various dimensions of their problems and difficulties in order to perform more efficient interventions, are of particular importance. Due to the fact that the elderly considers their death close, the anxiety of death and its vagueness may unconsciously affect various aspects of their life, including the quality of their sleep. Therefore, the current research aims to predict death anxiety and sleep quality of the elderly based on the mindfulness and tolerance of ambiguity. This was a descriptive study, of correlational type. The statistical population included all people over 65 years of age living in the nursing homes of Tehran, Iran in 2022 (around 1120 people), among whom 200 people from Asman Niavaran (area 1) and Kahrizak (area 20) centers were selected using convenience sampling method. In order to collect data, Bauer et al.’s five-factor mindfulness, McLean’s tolerance of ambiguity, Cult-Lester’s death anxiety and Petersburg’s sleep quality questionnaires were used. Data was analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multivariate regression analysis. The findings illustrated that mindfulness and tolerance of ambiguity were able to predict death anxiety and sleep quality in the elderly (P<0.05). Mindfulness was correlated to sleep quality and death anxiety. Besides, there was a significant negative relationship between tolerance of ambiguity with death anxiety and sleep quality. Based on the findings of the current study, trying to increase the mindfulness and tolerance of ambiguity as an intervention related to mental health is recommended to reduce death anxiety and increase the sleep quality of the elderly.