Factors Affecting Sleep Quality in Women with Cancer Undergoing Radiotherapy

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.2 -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.