Sleep Impairment in Oncology: Development of a Novel Patient-Centric Conceptual Model.
4 affiliations
- 1Clinical Outcomes Assessment, Clarivate Analytics, 70. St Mary Axe, London EC3A 8BE, UK.
- 2Patient-Driven Medicines Development, Sanofi, Paasheuvelweg 25, 1105BP Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
- 3Patient-Driven Medicines Development, Sanofi, 82 Avenue Raspail, 94255 Gentilly, France.
- 4Patient-Driven Medicines Development, Sanofi, 410 Thames Valley Park Dr, Earley, Reading RG6 1PT, UK.
Abstract
Background/objectives
Up to 95% of cancer patients report sleep disturbances or disorders. These can potentially influence cancer development and outcomes. This study aimed to review the existing literature to understand the patient experience of cancer-related sleep impairment across indications and treatments, to improve awareness and inform disease treatment/management.Methods
A targeted literature review of published qualitative studies exploring sleep impairment in oncology was conducted in MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO. Concepts were extracted from the reviewed articles, and patient quotes or author descriptions/interpretations were subject to secondary analysis using semantic, qualitative, directed content analysis techniques via ATLAS.ti. Results informed the development of a patient-centric conceptual model.Results
From 482 identified publications, 22 publications were selected for in-depth review and concept extraction, collectively including 531 patients across 25 different oncology indications. Cancer-related sleep impairment frequently affected patients living with cancer, who reported difficulty obtaining good quality sleep, including difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep. Sleep problems were triggered by the emotional anxiety of life with cancer, cancer-related symptoms, treatments and side effects, and external factors. Poor sleep greatly impacted daily life for patients, with difficulties in daily life causing further sleep impairment, in a cyclical relationship.Conclusions
This study determined that there is an unmet need for treatment of sleep impairment in oncology to improve patient outcomes. The holistic conceptual model developed in this study can provide an important basis for selecting, developing, or modifying outcome measures to assess relevant sleep outcomes, facilitating discussion between patients and clinicians and improving disease treatment/management.
Related
- OncoAgentic-RAG: An evidence-grounded multi-agent hybrid retrieval-augmented system for patient-centric clinical oncology question answering
- Patient Experiences of Chronic Low Back Pain: Development of a Conceptual Model Based on a Targeted Literature Review and Qualitative Patient Interviews
- Development and preliminary validation of a patient-report experience measure of acute oncology: The PREMAC study
- Sarcopenia and cognitive impairment after hip fracture in older adults: a narrative review and conceptual rehabilitation framework
- Measuring mild cognitive impairment using routinely collected health-care data: A conceptual framework and guidance for embedded pragmatic clinical trials.
BibTeX
@article{makin2026sleep,
title = {{Sleep Impairment in Oncology: Development of a Novel Patient-Centric Conceptual Model.}},
author = {Harriet Makin and Sophie Van Tomme and Natalie V J Aldhouse and Samantha Wratten and Helen Kitchen and Chloe Carmichael and Cecile Gousset and Paul Cordero},
journal = {Cancers},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/cancers18193191},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42882886},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Sleep Impairment in Oncology: Development of a Novel Patient-Centric Conceptual Model.
AU - Harriet Makin
AU - Sophie Van Tomme
AU - Natalie V J Aldhouse
AU - Samantha Wratten
AU - Helen Kitchen
AU - Chloe Carmichael
AU - Cecile Gousset
AU - Paul Cordero
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/02
JO - Cancers
DO - 10.3390/cancers18193191
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42882886
AB - Background/objectives Up to 95% of cancer patients report sleep disturbances or disorders. These can potentially influence cancer development and outcomes. This study aimed to review the existing literature to understand the patient experience of cancer-related sleep impairment across indications and treatments, to improve awareness and inform disease treatment/management.Methods A targeted literature review of published qualitative studies exploring sleep impairment in oncology was conducted in MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO. Concepts were extracted from the reviewed articles, and patient quotes or author descriptions/interpretations were subject to secondary analysis using semantic, qualitative, directed content analysis techniques via ATLAS.ti. Results informed the development of a patient-centric conceptual model.Results From 482 identified publications, 22 publications were selected for in-depth review and concept extraction, collectively including 531 patients across 25 different oncology indications. Cancer-related sleep impairment frequently affected patients living with cancer, who reported difficulty obtaining good quality sleep, including difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep. Sleep problems were triggered by the emotional anxiety of life with cancer, cancer-related symptoms, treatments and side effects, and external factors. Poor sleep greatly impacted daily life for patients, with difficulties in daily life causing further sleep impairment, in a cyclical relationship.Conclusions This study determined that there is an unmet need for treatment of sleep impairment in oncology to improve patient outcomes. The holistic conceptual model developed in this study can provide an important basis for selecting, developing, or modifying outcome measures to assess relevant sleep outcomes, facilitating discussion between patients and clinicians and improving disease treatment/management.
SN - 2072-6694
ER -