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Sleep disturbance in cancer survivors with lymphedema: a scoping review

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to identify the amount and scope of knowledge on sleep disturbance in cancer survivors who have lymphedema. The research question investigated was “what are the known sleep disturbances in cancer survivors with lymphedema?”

Methods

A literature search was performed on February 15 to March 27, 2021, in four databases following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) and structure recommended by Arksey and O’Malley. An iterative process of study selection was performed by two reviewers for abstract and full-text review. The Joanna Briggs Institute’s critical appraisal tools were used to analyze study quality.

Results

One hundred twenty-one unique references were reviewed, and seven met the inclusion criteria. One article had the primary aim of assessing sleep and noted that the presence of lymphedema did increase the risk for sleep disturbance. Four cross-sectional studies compared sleep quality between cancer survivors with lymphedema and cancer survivors without lymphedema. These studies found that lymphedema is a significant predictor of insomnia and is a risk factor for insomnia. Two randomized control trials compared sleep among breast cancer survivors with lymphedema after an intervention. Sleep improved with a yoga intervention and was unchanged after adding a night-time compression garment.

Conclusion

In this scoping review, breast and gynecological cancer survivors with lymphedema report increased sleep disturbance compared to survivors without lymphedema. Further research is needed to characterize the specific sleep disturbances in cancer survivors with lymphedema for improved screening and treatment.

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All available data is included in the manuscript.

Code availability

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Abbreviations

BCS:

Breast cancer survivor

CBTi:

Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia

CI:

Confidence interval

CS:

Catherine Siengsukon

EORTC QLQ-C30:

European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality of life questionnaire

JBI:

Joanna Briggs Institute

KB:

Karen Bock

LL:

Leslie Lesuer

LYMQOL:

Lymphedema quality of life

PRISMA:

Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses

PRISMA-ScR:

Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews

PSQI:

Pittsburgh sleep quality index

PV:

Prasanna Vaduvathiriyan

RL:

Rebecca Ludwig

SD:

Standard deviation

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation Science, and Athletic Training, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA

    Karen Bock, Rebecca Ludwig, Leslie LeSuer & Catherine Siengsukon

  2. Department of History and Philosophy of Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA

    Prasanna Vaduvathiriyan

Authors
  1. Karen Bock
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  2. Rebecca Ludwig
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  3. Prasanna Vaduvathiriyan
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  4. Leslie LeSuer
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  5. Catherine Siengsukon
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Contributions

Study design and concept: Karen Bock (KB) and Catherine Siengsukon (CS)

Data acquisition: Prasanna Vaduvathiriyan (PV) and Karen Bock

Data analysis and interpretation: Karen Bock, Rebecca Ludwig (RL), and Leslie Lesuer (LL)

Manuscript writing and finalization: Karen Bock, Catherine Siengsukon, Rebecca Ludwig, Leslie Lesuer, and Prasanna Vaduvathiriyan

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karen Bock.

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This article does not contain any studies performed by the authors with human participants or animals.

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Informed consent was not necessary as no human subjects were involved in the study.

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Competing interests

Catherine Siengsukon is the owner and CEO of Sleep Health Education, LLC. Karen Bock, Rebecca Ludwig, Leslie Lesuer, and Prasanna Vaduvathiriyan do not have any conflicts of interest or competing interests related to this study.

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Bock, K., Ludwig, R., Vaduvathiriyan, P. et al. Sleep disturbance in cancer survivors with lymphedema: a scoping review. Support Care Cancer 30, 9647–9657 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-022-07378-8

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