Sleep-related disturbances among adolescents with cancer: a systematic review

The purpose of this systematic review was to examine the evidence for sleep-related disturbances among adolescents with cancer, particularly the types of disturbances reported, using single and mixed paediatric oncology samples. Methods: Electronic searches of Medline, PubMed, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews since inception to September 2013 were conducted to identify all relevant studies. Search terms included sleep, a second term including adolescent, juvenile, youth, child, or childhood, and a third term including cancer, leukaemia, or brain tumour. A total of 41 articles met inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Of these, 32 included patients with leukaemia and 21 included patients with brain tumours. Sleep-related disturbances included difficulty initiating sleep, fragmented sleep, disordered breathing, parasomnias, napping, daytime sleepiness/fatigue, and unspecified disturbances. Adolescents with cancer experience many problems related to sleep. Given the increase in survival rates of the youth diagnosed with leukaemia or brain tumours, symptom management is an essential area of research in order to continue improving quality of life.