Association between Poor Sleep Quality with Anxiety and Depression Scores among Patients with Urological Cancers

Abstract

Background and Objective: It has been postulated that patients with cancer experience various degrees of poor sleep quality at different points of disease courses. On the other hand, a high proportion of patients with cancer present symptoms of anxiety and depression. The purpose of the study was to assess the association of sleep quality with anxiety and depression in patients with urological cancers.

Materials and Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional study performed in the Cancer Registry Center at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, in 2019-2020. For eligible patients, demographic data were collected from their records, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D) were completed for each patient.

Results: The mean + SD age of participants was 64.1 ± 14.5 years, and the most of patients were male (90.1%). In total, 142 patients were enrolled in the study, and 92 patients (64.8%) were categorized as patients with poor sleep quality. The mean global score was 7.85 ± 3.94, and the mean of anxiety and depression was 10.85 ± 6.80 and 15.30 ± 4.90, respectively. The regression analysis showed that for one-unit increase in sleep quality score, the anxiety score significantly increased by 0.98 unit [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.74-1.22, P < 0.001], and for depression significantly increased by 0.69 unit (95% CI: 0.52-0.87, P < 0.001).

Conclusion: More than half of our patients suffer from poor sleep quality, associated with anxiety and depression symptoms.