Sleep Quality and Associated Risk Factors in Leukemia Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy in Iran

Abstract

This study aimed to determine sleep disorders and associated risk factors in leukemia patients undergoing chemotherapy in Imam Khomeini Hospital of Sari, Iran. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015 with 100 patients selected. Inclusion criteria included complete mental and psychological health and being over 18 years old, and exclusion criteria included suffering other cancers, other chronic diseases, concurrent radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality standard questionnaire was used to collect data. The questionnaire consisted of mental sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, sleep quality, sleep disturbances, use of sleeping drugs, and impaired daily functioning. Data were analyzed by software SPSS 18 and by using descriptive and inferential tests (Pearson, Spearman, T-test and chi-square). Totals of 47 men (47%) and 53 women (53%) with a mean age of 44.1±1.7, participated in the study. The mean overall score of sleep quality was 9.3±3.9, which represents the average sleep quality in most participants. T-test shows that males have better sleep quality than females (t=2.1; 95%CI:0.004-0.25; P<0.01). Also the sleep quality increased with age (r=0.22, P=0.03). Results show that the amount of sleep quality was only moderate in most patients, so it is necessary to take coping strategies to improve their quality of sleep.