Background :Sleep disturbance is common among patients hospitalized in intensive care units (ICUs) and is associated with adverse physiological and psychological outcomes. Evidence supports the effectiveness of family‑centered approaches; however, the impact of scheduled family presence on patients’ sleep quality has been less frequently examined. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of scheduled family visits on sleep quality among ICU patients.

Methods:This quasi‑experimental study was conducted on 70 adult ICU patients (35 in the intervention group and 35 in the control group) in teaching hospitals affiliated with Zahedan University of Medical Sciences. The control group received routine ward visiting practices. In the intervention group, in addition to routine care, scheduled family visits were implemented for three consecutive days, twice daily for 20 minutes each session. Sleep quality was measured using the reconstructed Persian version of the Verran and Snyder–Halpern Sleep Scale, whose validity and reliability have been confirmed in the Iranian population (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.83; split‑half reliability = 0.70). For final comparison, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed while controlling for baseline sleep score and the covariates of age, gender, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), smoking status, history of hypnotic medication use, and substance use.

Ethics code: IR.ZAUMS.REC.1399.063.

Results:The groups were comparable at baseline in terms of demographic and clinical characteristics. The mean ± standard deviation of baseline sleep quality scores was 6.05 ± 1.10 in the control group and 6.11 ± 1.09 in the intervention group. Post‑test scores were 6.08 ± 1.14 and 7.35 ± 1.02, respectively. ANCOVA revealed a significant main effect of group (F(1,63) = 6.27, p = 0.015, partial η² = 0.091), indicating that after adjusting for covariates, sleep quality scores in the intervention group were significantly higher than in the control group. The baseline score was also a significant predictor of the outcome (p = 0.020).

Conclusion:Scheduled family visits in the ICU significantly improve patients’ sleep quality with a moderate effect size. This low‑cost and feasible intervention can be implemented as a complementary component of family‑centered care.