Asian Oncol Nurs.  2016 Mar;16(1):30-37. 10.5388/aon.2016.16.1.30.

Factors Affecting Sleep Quality in Women with Cancer Undergoing Radiotherapy

• Seok SH
• Jun SE

• KMID: 2168710
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5388/aon.2016.16.1.30

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to investigate the severity of subjective sleep quality and factors related to sleep disturbances in breast and gynecologic cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy.
METHODS
Ninety four women (68 breast cancer and 26 gynecologic cancer) undergoing radiotherapy were recruited and asked to complete the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Piper Fatigue Scale, and Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale. The data were analyzed using χ2-test, t-test, ANOVA and logistic regression.
RESULTS
The average global PSQI score was 8.34±4.41 and 70.2% of the patients reported poor sleep quality (PSQI>5). There were significant differences between the poor sleepers and the good sleepers in concurrent chemo-radiotherapy (p=.022), number of radiation treatments (p=.013), total amount of radiation dosage (p=.048), sleeping pills (p=.030), fatigue (p<.001), anxiety (p<.001), and depression (p=.024). Logistic regression showed that significant predictors for poor sleep quality were fatigue and concurrent chemo-radiotherapy.
CONCLUSION
These findings suggest that sleep disturbance was a significant health problem in patients with breast and gynecologic cancer who were receiving radiotherapy. Also that fatigue and concurrent chemo-radiotherapy were highly associated with sleep disturbance. However, limited evidence was found for the role of radiotherapy in the sleep disturbance of these patients.

Keyword

Radiotherapy; Sleep Disturbance; Fatigue; Anxiety; Depression

MeSH Terms

Anxiety
Breast
Breast Neoplasms
Depression
Fatigue
Female
Humans
Logistic Models
Piper
Radiation Dosage
Radiotherapy*

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Mean scores of the PSQI components. Higher scores indicate greater sleep disturbance (PSQI=Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index).

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