Sleep Composition of Patients With Colorectal Cancer and Their Sleep‐Partner Caregivers: Physical Health Correlates of Sleep Diary and Actigraphy Measurements

Abstract

BackgroundDisturbed sleep is frequently identified in adult patients with cancer and their caregivers, with detrimental impact on physical health. Less known is the extent to which self‐reported and actigraph‐measured sleep patterns are similar between patients and their sleep‐partner caregivers, and how these different modes of sleep measurements are related to physical health.MethodsPatients diagnosed with colorectal cancer and their sleep‐partner caregivers (81 dyads) completed a questionnaire for physical functioning and collected saliva samples for seven consecutive days, from which cortisol slope was quantified. Additionally, participants completed a daily sleep diary and wore actigraph for 14 consecutive days, from which sleep duration, sleep onset latency (SOL), and duration of wake after sleep onset (WASO) were calculated.ResultsParticipants reported sleep patterns that fell within or close to the optimal range, which were similar between patients and their caregivers. Self‐reported and actigraph‐measured sleep duration had moderate levels of agreement (ICC = 0.604), whereas SOL and WASO had poor agreement (ICC = 0.269). Among patients, longer self‐reported WASO was associated with poorer physical health and flatter cortisol slope (p ≤ 0.013). Among caregivers, longer self‐reported SOL was associated with poorer physical functioning, actigraph‐measured WASO was associated with steeper cortisol slope, and longer self‐reported sleep markers studied than actigraph‐measured were associated with poorer physical functioning (p ≤ 0.042).ConclusionFindings suggest that employing multiple assessment modes for sleep and physical health is vital for comprehensive understanding of sleep health. Furthermore, when addressing patients' sleep health, it may be beneficial to include their sleep‐partner caregivers who may experience similar disturbed sleep.