Sleep disturbance, distress, and quality of life in ovarian cancer patients during the first year after diagnosis

• Published in: Cancer 2013-09, Vol.119 (17), p.3234-3241
• Main Authors: Clevenger, Lauren, Schrepf, Andrew, DeGeest, Koenraad, Bender, David, Goodheart, Michael, Ahmed, Amina, Dahmoush, Laila, Penedo, Frank, Lucci, Joseph, Thaker, Premal H., Mendez, Luis, Sood, Anil K., Slavich, George M., Lutgendorf, Susan K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Analgesics - administration & dosage; Anti-Anxiety Agents - administration & dosage; Antidepressive Agents - administration & dosage; anxiety; Anxiety - drug therapy; Anxiety - epidemiology; Anxiety - etiology; Biological and medical sciences; Carcinoma, Ovarian Epithelial; depression; Depression - drug therapy; Depression - epidemiology; Depression - etiology; Disorders of higher nervous function. Focal brain diseases. Central vestibular syndrome and deafness. Brain stem syndromes; Female; Humans; Hypnotics and Sedatives - administration & dosage; insomnia; Longitudinal Studies; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Multiple tumors. Solid tumors. Tumors in childhood (general aspects); Neoplasm Grading; Neoplasm Staging; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial - diagnosis; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial - psychology; Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes); Neurology; ovarian cancer; Ovarian Neoplasms - diagnosis; Ovarian Neoplasms - ethnology; Ovarian Neoplasms - pathology; Ovarian Neoplasms - psychology; Peritoneal Neoplasms - diagnosis; Peritoneal Neoplasms - psychology; Prospective Studies; Quality of Life; Sleep Wake Disorders - drug therapy; Sleep Wake Disorders - epidemiology; Sleep Wake Disorders - etiology; Stress, Psychological - drug therapy; Stress, Psychological - epidemiology; Stress, Psychological - etiology; Tumors; United States - epidemiology
• ISSN: 0008-543X; 1097-0142
• DOI: 10.1002/cncr.28188

BACKGROUND Sleep disturbance is a common clinical complaint of oncology patients and contributes to substantial morbidity. However, because most sleep studies have been cross‐sectional, associations between sleep quality and distress in patients with ovarian cancer over time remain unclear. This prospective longitudinal study examined rates of sleep disturbance; contributions of depression, anxiety, and medication use in sleep disturbance; and associations between sleep quality and quality of life (QOL) during the first year after diagnosis among women with ovarian cancer. METHODS Women with a pelvic mass completed measures of sleep quality, depression, anxiety, and QOL before surgery. Those diagnosed with primary epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or peritoneal cancer repeated surveys at 6 months and 1 year after diagnosis. Mixed modeling was used to examine trajectories of psychosocial measures over time, as well as associations between changes in distress and sleep quality. Relationships between changes in sleep and QOL were also examined. RESULTS The majority of patients reported disturbed global sleep (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index > 5) at all 3 time points. Medications for sleep and pain were associated with worse sleep at all time points. Greater increases in depression were associated with increased disturbances in sleep quality over time (P