Are we sleeping on the job? Insomnia among men with prostate cancer

Abstract

Prostate cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in men and almost half of male cancer survivors in the US have had a prostate cancer diagnosis. Insomnia is common among cancer patients and survivors. There is evidence that cognitive behavioural therapy can be used to effectively manage insomnia among women with breast cancer. The aim of this review was to investigate the prevalence, risk factors and management of insomnia among men with prostate cancer. The effect of insomnia on the psychological health and health-related quality of life of these patients and/or survivors is also discussed. Increased awareness and knowledge of this symptom among men with prostate cancer may facilitate improved diagnosis, and management of insomnia in this large population. This in turn may improve the health-related quality of life of these men. Therefore, research into the effective management of insomnia among men with prostate cancer is essential.Keywords: prostate cancer; insomnia; androgen deprivation therapy; radiotherapy; health-related quality of life; depression; anxiety

Problems sleeping with prostate cancer: exploring possible risk factors for sleep disturbance in a population-based sample of survivors

“…Our results fit with a growing body of literature which suggests that sleep disturbance is a common problem for prostate cancer survivors [8,4] In spite of having a reasonably high quality of life, many survivors in our sample reported at least some difficulties sleeping, which is consistent with previous QLQC30 reference data for this group [36]. When compared to population norms [33] the mean insomnia score we observed (M = 24; SD = 30) was higher than that of males in the general population (M = 19; SD = 27).…”

“…Prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment can give rise to a range of physical adverse effects [1][2][3] and it is clear from the results of our study that many of these effects are independently related to the experience of sleep problems. The strongest predictor here was urinary symptoms, which fits with a number of studies and reviews in the area [4]. It is likely that experiencing a more frequent need to urinate directly contributes to sleep problems owing to more night time waking [9].…”

“…Firstly, for the purposes of this study, we conceptualised sleep disturbance simply as an individual's perceptions of whether they have any trouble sleeping. There are other more objective ways of assessing sleep difficulties and of establishing clinically significantly levels of insomnia [4], but this were beyond the scope of the current study. We did not take into account whether survivors took any sleep-inducting medications or indeed whether survivors had any previously diagnosed sleep disorder, both of which may have influenced the results.…”

“…Most research to date has concentrated on the specific physical adverse effects of the disease and its treatment (e.g. erectile dysfunction, urinary incontinence and bowel problems), with less work focusing on more general symptoms such as insomnia or sleep disturbance [4].…”

“…Along with fatigue, sleep disturbance is the most commonly reported symptom in prostate cancer survivors [8,1], although estimates of the prevalence of sleep difficulties vary significantly across studies, ranging from as low as 8% to as high as 53% of survivors [4].…”