Sleep During Pelvic-Abdominal Radiotherapy for Cancer

BACKGROUND: Poor sleep, nausea, psychological distress, and a lowered quality of life are common during radiotherapy for cancer. There is a lack of studies on the relationship between radiotherapy-induced nausea and sleep. This longitudinal study analyzes data from 196 patients who underwent pelvic-abdominal radiotherapy for cancer. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate sleep parameters weekly before, during, and after radiotherapy in relation to nausea and other patient characteristics, clinical characteristics, psychological distress, and quality of life. METHODS: Patients (n = 196, 84% women; mean age, 63 years; 68% had gynecological tumor, 28% had colorectal tumor, and 4% had other tumors) longitudinally answered questionnaires before, during, and after their radiotherapy over the abdominal and pelvic fields. RESULTS: Poor sleep was experienced by 30% of the participants, and sleep (quality and difficulty falling asleep) improved during and after treatment compared with baseline. Experiencing nausea during treatment was associated with worse sleep quality during radiotherapy. Baseline anxiety was associated with worse sleep quality before, during, and after treatment. Poor sleep was associated with worse quality of life. CONCLUSION: Nausea, more than a number of other variables, is a possible predictor of poor sleep in patients during radiotherapy for cancer. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The results indicate that effectively managing nausea may be important for sleep quality, and possibly quality of life, in patients undergoing radiotherapy for cancer. More research is needed before recommendations for practice can be made.