1College of Nursing, Pusan National University 2College of Nursing, Pusan National University 3Pusan National University Hospital
Abstract
Purpose: This study was done to investigate clinical characteristics and risk factors for sleep disturbance in patients with prostate cancer. Method: Participants were recruited from P hospital outpatient clinic from March 23 to April 20, 2006, and 101 participants completed a questionnaire assessing general and clinical characteristics, sleep quality, physical symptoms and psychological symptoms such as anxiety and depression. The data was analyzed using the SPSS 12.0 program. Results: In this study, 29.7% of the patients reported sleep disturbance. Cancer diagnosis related factors which affected sleep disturbance were onset (55.3%) and aggravation (83.3%). Habitual sleep efficiency of patients with sleep disturbance was as follows: bedtime was 10 PM, wake-up time was 6AM, sleep duration was six hours and twenty minutes. Risk factors for the presence of sleep disturbance included metastasis, the presence of intestinal symptoms, depression and anxiety. Conclusion: Sleep disturbance is a frequent problem associated with prostate cancer and seems to be influenced by aggravation of illness and the presence of physical and psychological symptoms.