Comparison of sleep disturbance among patients with cancer and thalassaemia and healthy controls: a cross-sectional study

Introduction
Sleep disturbance is an unwanted condition among healthy people and those with chronic diseases. This study was performed to compare sleep disturbance between cancer and thalassaemia major patients, and healthy controls.

Material and methods
This cross-sectional study was performed on 505 patients referred to 3 teaching hospitals in south-eastern Iran. Patients were selected through the convenience sampling method. Data were collected using the standard Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Questionnaire.

Results
The mean age of patients was 47.1 years (range 14-60 years). Most of the participants were female (70%), city residents (53%), and had a diploma (47%). The overall prevalence of sleep disturbance in thalassaemia, cancer, and healthy controls was 91.9%, 98.2%, and 94.7%, respectively. The results also showed that there was no significant difference in the prevalence of sleep disturbance between thalassaemia and healthy controls (p = 0.27), but it was shown that people with cancer had significantly higher and more severe sleep disturbance compared to healthy controls (p = 0.01).

Conclusions
The high prevalence of sleep disturbance in thalassaemia and cancer patients indicates the importance of paying attention to the psychological dimension of patients along with the physical dimension, and designing appropriate training programs to improve sleep disturbance in patients.