Oncology Outpatients With Worse Anxiety and Sleep Disturbance Profiles Are at Increased Risk for a Higher Symptom Burden and Poorer Quality of Life.
Alejandra Calvo-Schimmel, Steven M Paul, Bruce A Cooper and 9 others
PMID 35688433WHAT IT FOUND
In 1331 chemotherapy outpatients, 32.5% had moderate anxiety with high sleep disturbance and 7.8% had high anxiety with very high sleep disturbance.
These groups reported worse symptoms and lower quality of life.
Key findings
01Oncology outpatients receiving chemotherapy fell into three joint anxiety and sleep disturbance profiles: 59.7% had no anxiety and low sleep disturbance, 32.5% had moderate anxiety and high sleep disturbance, and 7.8% had high anxiety and very high sleep disturbance.
02Compared with the no anxiety and low sleep disturbance group, the moderate and high anxiety/sleep disturbance groups reported worse depressive symptoms, trait and state anxiety, morning and evening fatigue, and pain interference, and lower quality of life on generic and cancer-specific measures.
03All patients in the sample had total sleep disturbance scores above the clinically meaningful cutoff of 43 on a 0 to 147 scale.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Anxiety and sleep were measured only over two chemotherapy cycles, so the study does not show what happens across the full course of treatment. The sample was relatively homogeneous, including White, female, and educated patients, so the results may not apply to all oncology outpatients. Only 1343 of 2234 patients consented, and the main refusal reason was being overwhelmed with cancer treatment, which may mean the most distressed patients were underrepresented. The study did not collect data on medications for anxiety or sleep, and patients were not evaluated for specific anxiety or sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea. The study is observational, so it cannot show that anxiety causes sleep disturbance or that treating one symptom will improve the other. Symptoms and quality of life were self-reported, and the grouping method depends on the measures and time points chosen.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that only the 32.5% and 7.8% groups had clinically meaningful sleep disturbance. All patients had total sleep disturbance scores above the cutoff of 43 on a 0 to 147 scale.