# Self-Completion Questionnaire on Sleep Evaluation in Patients Undergoing Oxaliplatin Therapy: An Observational Study

## TL;DR

This study explores how sleep issues affect the health and quality of life of cancer patients receiving oxaliplatin treatment.

## Contribution

The study introduces a self-completion questionnaire to evaluate sleep patterns in oxaliplatin-treated cancer patients.

## Key findings

- Significant differences in sleep hygiene scores were observed between male and female patients.
- Stress, worries, and anxiety negatively impact sleep hygiene scores in female patients.
- The questionnaire model can be adapted for use in various clinical settings to improve patient care.

## Abstract

Sleep is a fundamental human need. Good-quality sleep has a protective role that allows people to carry out daily activities adequately, ensuring well-being. Prolonged wakefulness causes a wide spectrum of disabilities. This study aims to understand the effects of sleep complaints on health and quality of life for cancer patients, and it has been conducted through the creation of questionnaires for patients to investigate the potential alteration of the sleep pattern. The results obtained may serve as the foundation for designing awareness campaigns, providing information, and updating patients, healthcare personnel, and caregivers. It is definitively important, in fact, to begin an evaluation of the negative effects of sleep complaints in the field of cancer. The model developed can also be replicated in different clinical settings: data adjustment by different parameters (i.e., geographic locations, age, sex, and gender) can be the key to improving the patient’s quality of life.

Sleep is a fundamental human need; sleep disruption, in fact, causes an increase in the activity of the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, metabolic effects, changes in circadian rhythms, and pro-inflammatory responses. The scientific literature is finally starting to pay attention to the central role of sleep alterations in patients health. Oxaliplatin is extensively used for the treatment of gastrointestinal cancer and other malignancies, with an increased frequency of use in recent years. This study aims to understand the effects of sleep complaints on health and quality of life in cancer patients treated with oxaliplatin. A study has been conducted through the creation and distribution of questionnaires to patients to investigate their complaints about sleep quality. We observed significant differences between males and females in evaluating sleep hygiene scores, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and previous difficulty sleeping. Moreover, in females, stress, worries, and anxiety seem to play a negative role in the sleep hygiene score. The obtained results could improve the interest of healthcare personnel and caregivers in sleep quality in patients undergoing chemotherapy.