title: Sleep management training for cancer patients with insomnia.
abstract: Insomnia is a common phenomenon in cancer patients; nevertheless, there are only a few intervention results published covering this topic. We examined the effects of a multi-modal psychological sleep management programme combining relaxation techniques, sleep hygiene, cognitive techniques and advice in stimulus control technique on various sleep and quality-of-life variables. We compared two intervention groups up to 6 months after treatment, one with progressive muscle relaxation (n=80), the other with autogenic training (n=71). A control group (n=78) received only a standard rehabilitation programme. It was a heterogeneous sample of adult patients (mean age 58 years) predominantly with breast, kidney or prostate cancer staying for 3 or 4 weeks in an oncological rehabilitation clinic. In comparison to the control group, the analysis of variance for repeated measures (R-MANOVA) showed significant improvements over time, indicating that intervention group participants benefited with moderate- or large-scale effects on sleep latency (p<0.001), sleep duration (p<0.001), sleep efficiency (p<0.001), sleep quality (p<0.001), sleep medication (p<0.05) and daytime dysfunction (p<0.05). In quality-of-life subscales, there was mainly improvement over time. This may indicate a benefit of the rehabilitation treatment in general. No evidence was found for any differences between the two intervention groups. The results suggest that the use of a multi-modal psychological sleep intervention could enhance various sleep parameters and well being of patients. The efficacy on quality of life is still under review.
authors.affiliation: Röpersbergklinik Ratzeburg, Röpersberg 47, 23909 Ratzeburg, Germany. info@rkrz.de
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Simeit
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Deck
authors.forename: Beate
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Conta-Marx
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011788:Quality of Life; D012064:Relaxation Therapy / Q000193:education*; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires