Abstract
This study aims to identify the research trends in Japan concerning sleep in cancer patients. Using Japan Medical Abstracts Society Web (ver. 5), 15 sources were selected out of the results obtained from searching the keywords “cancer” and “sleep”, and “cancer” and “insomnia”, together with the terms “patient” and “nursing”. Once the publication year, study design, subjects, measurement indicators, and measurement period were categorized based on content similarity, their frequencies were calculated. Moreover, the objective and main results were categorized as the main research content based on content similarity.
Eight studies (the highest number of studies) were published between 2010 and 2018. They included twelve relevant exploratory research studies and three causal hypothesis-testing studies. With regard to number of research subjects, there were six studies using 20 subjects or less were the most numerous, with three postoperative cases and one case each of chemotherapy and chemo-radiotherapy. Measurement indicators used included four physiological indicators and 16 psychological indicators. Regarding the research content, nine were categorized as “Evaluation of sleep in cancer patients,” three as “Evaluation of sleep in healthcare professionals and cancer patients,” and three as “Intervention in the sleep of cancer patients.” The results of this study suggest that in addition to sleep evaluation in patients undergoing medical treatment or those under home care, there is a need to understand the experiences of patients and health care professionals with sleep-related problems for a better understanding of sleep in cancer patients and to promote more interventional studies.
