title: A clinical study on insomnia in patients with cancer during chemotherapy containing high-dose glucocorticoids.
abstract: In this prospective, open-labeled study, 240 cancer patients were assigned to either a high-dose glucocorticoids (HDG) group that received chemotherapy containing HDG, or a control group that received chemotherapy without glucocorticoids. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was chosen to assess insomnia. The results of the study showed that dimensions of sleep latency, sleep duration, and sleep efficiency had the three largest differences in values and numbers of patients, with a score increase in the HDG group compared to the control group (p < 0.001). After chemotherapy in the HDG group, the PSQI score significantly increased in patients with stage II cancer (both p < 0.05), and patients diagnosed with lymphoma (p < 0.01), whereas the complete response and partial response rates (p < 0.05) had the smallest elevations. The average score of each dimension did not significantly decrease after hypnotics (p > 0.05). Our study suggests that the major clinical manifestations of insomnia in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy containing HDG include difficulty falling asleep, short sleep duration, and low sleep efficiency. however, we cannot definitively state that hypnotics can improve poor sleep quality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. zhaojingdoc@163.com
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Y H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Q S
authors.initials: QS
authors.lastname: Xi
authors.forename: S Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology; D012894:Sleep Stages; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D005938:Glucocorticoids; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives