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

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Abstract

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.

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Acknowledgements

Dr. Alaa Althubaiti and Dr. Mohamed Eldigire Ahmed provided statistical assistance, for which the authors are grateful. We express our gratitude to all patients who willingly agreed to take part in our research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, 21423, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Nadia Elamin, Nisreen Althebity, Taif A. Alkhamisi & Meteb Al-Foheidi

  2. King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Nadia Elamin, Nisreen Althebity & Taif A. Alkhamisi

  3. Oncology Center of Princess Norah, King Abdul-Aziz Medical City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Meteb Al-Foheidi

Authors
  1. Nadia Elamin
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  2. Nisreen Althebity
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  3. Taif A. Alkhamisi
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  4. Meteb Al-Foheidi
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Contributions

All authors contributed to preparing and writing the proposal, study design, and first manuscript. Nisreen Althebity and Taif Alkhamisi did data collection, preparation, and analysis. Nadia Elamin led the conceptualization and design, provided logistic support, and edited and finalized the manuscript. All authors reviewed the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nadia Elamin.

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Ethical approval

This study was approved by the institutional review board at King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (approval No. SP20/054/J).

Consent to participate

The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. The study aims were explained to all participants, and they were informed that they could interrupt or quit at any point without giving their reasons. Participants gave their informed consent using electronic-based consent forms and voluntarily completed the questionnaires.

Competing interests

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

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Elamin, N., Althebity, N., Alkhamisi, T.A. et al. Sleep quality and psychological disorders in breast cancer female patients receiving radiotherapy at a tertiary oncology center in West Saudi Arabia. Support Care Cancer 32, 163 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-024-08368-8

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