Sleep disturbances and psychological distress are the most common adverse effects associated with cancer diagnosis and treatment. The aim of this study was to examine sleep and psychological characteristics in patients with local-advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) following completion of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and concurrent chemotherapy, and to describe the predictors of post-test psychological symptoms after treatment. Sleep quality and psychological symptoms were measured using Pittsburgh sleep-quality index (PSQI) and symptom checklist-90 in 60 local-advanced NPC patients treated with IMRT and concurrent chemotherapy, respectively. After treatment, the subscores of subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleeping medication, and daytime dysfunction increased significantly compared with their pre-test scores. Similar results were observed for the mean PSQI global score. However, for psychological symptoms, only subscores of somatization and depression were higher than their baseline level. Multivariate analysis revealed that concurrent chemotherapy cycle was the only predictor of depression after treatment among all of the psychological symptoms assessed. These findings indicate that sleep disturbance and psychological distress are significant problems in NPC patients treated with IMRT and concurrent chemotherapy. Patients who receive many cycles of concurrent chemotherapy may be at an increased risk of depression after completion of IMRT.
Keywords: concurrent chemotherapy; intensity-modulated radiotherapy; nasopharyngeal carcinoma; psychological symptoms; sleep.