Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27957622›Full record

ArticleSupportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer2017

Sleep disturbances in advanced cancer patients admitted to a supportive/palliative care unit.

Sebastiano Mercadante, Claudio Adile, Patrizia Ferrera, Francesco Masedu, Marco Valenti, Federica Aielli

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
32citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

32 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. The short-term impact of methylprednisolone on patient-reported sleep in patients with advanced cancer in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2021
    Trial
  6. Trial
  7. The clinical relevance of sleep disturbance ("insomnia") in patients with advanced cancer receiving palliative care: a scoping review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Bibliometric and visual analysis of cancer-related insomnia research from 2015 to 2025.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025
    Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Sleep quality in cancer patients: a common metric for several instruments measuring sleep quality.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2024
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Sebastiano MercadantePain relief and supportive care unit, La Maddalena Cancer Center, Via San Lorenzo 312, 90146, Palermo, Italy. terapiadeldolore@lamaddalenanet.it.
Claudio AdilePain relief and supportive care unit, La Maddalena Cancer Center, Via San Lorenzo 312, 90146, Palermo, Italy.
Patrizia FerreraPain relief and supportive care unit, La Maddalena Cancer Center, Via San Lorenzo 312, 90146, Palermo, Italy.
Francesco MaseduDepartment of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, Section of Clinical Epidemiology and Environmental Medicine, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy.
Marco ValentiDepartment of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, Section of Clinical Epidemiology and Environmental Medicine, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy.
Federica AielliDepartment of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, Section of Clinical Epidemiology and Environmental Medicine, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of sleep disturbances and possible correlations with associated factors in a sample of patients admitted to an acute palliative/supportive care unit.A consecutive sample of patients with advanced cancer was prospectively assessed for a period of 6 months. Epidemiological and clinical data, treatments received in the last month, Karnofsky status, Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS), and concomitant medical treatment were also recorded. Patients were administered the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS) and the Hospital Anxiety and depression scale (HADS).Two hundred nineteen patients met the inclusion criteria. The mean age was 65.4 years (SD 12.4), and 111 patients were males. The mean Karnofsky status was 46.6 (SD = 12). All patients had consistent sleep disturbances (AIS ≥6), with a large number of patients having intense-maximum sleep disturbances. No relationships of AIS with gender, age, primary diagnosis, socio-educational factors, and anticancer treatments were found. AIS score was significantly associated with Karnofsky; intensities of pain, asthenia, anorexia, anxiety, depression, drowsiness, and well-being; and the use of corticosteroids and benzodiazepines. There was a positive correlation of HADS anxiety and HADS depression with sleep disturbances (p = 0.000). In the multivariate analysis, AIS increased only with the level of anxiety and depression assessed by HADS.Sleep disturbances were ubiquitous in advanced cancer patients admitted to a supportive/palliative care unit and were strongly correlated with psychological distress. Assessment of sleep disorders is mandatory in this population for the obvious interference with quality of life.

Indexed as

AdultAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNeoplasmsPalliative CareQuality of LifeSleep Wake DisordersYoung AdultAdvanced cancerInsomniaPalliative careSleep disturbances

Identifiers

PMID27957622

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.