Advanced Cancer Patients Have Less Quality Sleep

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Also Included In: Sleep / Sleep Disorders / Insomnia
Article Date: 01 Jun 2007 - 12:00 PDT

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Patients with stage four cancer are more prone to disturbed sleeping patterns due to factors such as pain, treatment side effects and psychological causes.

The study, conducted by Kyriaki Mystakidou, MD, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Athens, Greece, was completed by 102 patients with an average age of 62.8 years and who had stage four cancer. The subjects, who were subsequently followed for up to 10 months, were administered self-rated questionnaires, including an evaluation of one's quality of sleep, quality of life, mental and physical component, and pain.

The findings indicate a relationship between poor sleep quality and the functional performance, mental health, and pain status of cancer patients.

"The current findings could be of clinical importance, since in cancer, an initial sign of a symptom may hint the underlying cause of that symptom and, thus, indicating the need of a more effective symptom management," said Mystakidou. "Poor sleep quality must be taken into account when treating cancer patients. Clinicians must appreciate the often multifactorial nature of sleep disruptions in order to achieve a better and more efficacious treatment regimen."

Those who think they might have a sleep disorder are urged to discuss their problem with their primary care physician, who will issue a referral to a sleep specialist. SLEEP is the official journal of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC, a joint venture of the AASM and the Sleep Research Society.

SleepEducation.com, a Web site maintained by the AASM, provides information about the various sleep disorders that exist, the forms of treatment available, recent news on the topic of sleep, sleep studies that have been conducted and a listing of sleep facilities.

http://www.aasmnet.org

SLEEP 2007
http://www.apss.org

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