Abstract
Background: Good quality sleep is essential for human health and optimal bodily function because it lowers the risk of major health issues, lowers stress levels, and elevates mood. The present study was aimed at assessing the effect of high altitude on sleeping quality among Taif City residents.
Methods: A cross-sectional was conducted involving 684 participants from Taif City, Saudi Arabia. Data were collected through electronic questionnaires and analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 22 to obtain important insights.
Results: A notable proportion of 271 (39.6%) of the participants were aged 45-64 years with a predominance of male 433 (63.3%) gender. Among them, 399 (58.3%) of the participants felt the difference in sleep quality with better sleep quality experienced in low-altitude cities; a remarkable proportion of 262 (38.3%) of them found it difficult to fall asleep in Taif city. The results revealed overall poor quality sleep experienced by the majority 497 (72.7%) of the participants in Taif city while only 187 (27.7%) of them experienced good quality sleep in Taif city than in cities that are not high-altitude. The study established a statistically significant association between general feeling of a difference in sleep quality, difficulty in falling asleep, waking up while sleeping, difference in the number of hours of sleep, feeling tired or sleepy during the day, frequency of nightmares during sleep and the quality of sleep (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: The present study revealed significant effects of high altitude on sleeping quality with more than half of the participants experiencing poor quality sleep in Taif city than in low-altitude cities.

Key words: Low-altitude ,KSA , Taif city, sleeping quality, high-altitude