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Sleep problems in advanced cancer patients and their caregivers: Who is disturbing whom?

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Abstract

Background The aims of the study were to understand sleep problems and their effects in advanced cancer patients and spousal and intimate partner caregivers and to examine the directionality of the link between patients’ and caregivers’ sleep problems. Methods Fifty-four advanced cancer patients and their spousal and intimate partners were administered a battery of questionnaires that included the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Center for Epidemiological Studies at the patients’ cancer diagnosis and at 2, 4, and 6 months after diagnosis. Results Patients’ and caregivers’ sleep duration was significantly related. Using cross-lagged panel analyses, caregivers’ sleep quality significantly predicted patients’ sleep quality and patients’ sleep quality subsequently predicted caregivers’ sleep quality. Patients’ sleep latency significantly was found to significantly predict caregivers’ sleep latency. Conclusion Patients diagnosed with cancer and their intimate partners have poor sleep quality and sleep patterns are related.

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Funding

This study was funded by National Cancer Institute (Grant Numbers K07CA118576; R21CA127046).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Qi Chen, Hannah Cheng, Allan Tsung, Mikhaila Layshock, David A. Geller, James W. Marsh, Yisi Wang & Jennifer L. Steel

  2. Department of Occupational Therapy and Health and Community Systems, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Lauren Terhorst

  3. Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Amy Lowery-Allison

  4. Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Daniel J. Buysse

  5. Department of Surgery, Psychiatry, and Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Jennifer L. Steel

  6. Center for Excellence in Behavioral Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 3459 Fifth Avenue; Montefiore 7S, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Jennifer L. Steel

Authors
  1. Qi Chen
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  2. Lauren Terhorst
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  3. Amy Lowery-Allison
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  4. Hannah Cheng
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  11. Jennifer L. Steel
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Correspondence to Jennifer L. Steel.

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Conflict of interest

Qi Chen, Lauren Terhorst, Amy Lowery-Allison, Hannah Cheng, Allan Tsung, Mikhaila Layshock, Daniel J. Buysse, David A. Geller, James W. Marsh, Yisi Wang and Jennifer L. Steel declare that they do not have conflict of interest.

Human and animal rights and Informed consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Chen, Q., Terhorst, L., Lowery-Allison, A. et al. Sleep problems in advanced cancer patients and their caregivers: Who is disturbing whom?. J Behav Med 43, 614–622 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-019-00088-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-019-00088-3

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