Sleep quality and psychological disorders in breast cancer female patients receiving radiotherapy at a tertiary oncology center in West Saudi Arabia.

PURPOSE: Breast cancer is the most prevalent type of cancer among women worldwide. Many recently diagnosed and treated breast cancer patients complain about sleep disorders, depression, anxiety, stress, and fatigue. This study aimed to evaluate sleep quality among breast cancer patients and to assess its association with psychological disorders, and socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of patients.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted among women who received radiotherapy for breast cancer (stage 1-3) at King Abdul-Aziz Medical City-Jeddah from January to August 2021. Each participant completed a personal information form, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Clinical data were collected from the medical records to evaluate certain risk factors. Descriptive statistics were used for participant characteristics, and analyses of variance were used to assess associations between the qualitative variables.

RESULTS

Fifty-six women with a mean age of 50.1 years and an average of 10 months after cancer diagnosis were included. Poor sleep quality was present in 58% of respondents. Symptomatic depression, anxiety, and stress were found in 34%, 32%, and 30% of women, respectively. Poor sleep quality was associated with depression (p = 0.031), anxiety (p = 0.03), and stress (p = 0.024) and was independently associated with hot flashes. In multivariate analysis, patients with depression or with cancer for more than 6 months were less likely to have good sleep after controlling other variables (21.74 and 14.71 times, respectively).

CONCLUSION

Poor sleep quality was present in 58% of women with breast cancer receiving radiotherapy and was significantly associated with depression, anxiety, stress, and hot flashes. Depression level and cancer duration were significant predictors of sleep quality. Early identification and proper management of psychological and sleep disorders are necessary to improve the quality of life and survival of breast cancer patients.