Background: Sleep problems are frequently observed in breast cancer patients. However, the relationship between sleep quality and overall quality of life (QoL) and the specificity of different sleep-related questionnaires have not yet been adequately studied in breast cancer patients. Methods: The sample of this cross-sectional study consisted of 533 breast cancer patients, recruited in a German rehabilitation clinic, with a mean age of 52.3 years (SD = 12.5 years). The following three sleep-related questionnaires were used: the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), and the Jenkins Sleep Scale (JSS). In addition, we used the QoL instrument EORTC QLQ-C30. Results: Sleep quality was poor in this sample of breast cancer patients. The effect sizes d, indicating the difference in sleep quality between the patient sample and the general population, were between 0.97 and 1.76 (p < 0.001). QoL was impaired in all components (p < 0.001); the impairment in the dimension of sleep quality (d = 1.70) was among the highest. Sleep quality was correlated with all components of QoL. The comparison of the three sleep-related questionnaires showed that the results obtained in oncological studies partly depend on the instrument used. Conclusion: As the burden of sleep problems is high, screening for sleep problems in breast cancer patients is important.
Hinz et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: