PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - DIRK RADES AU - SVENJA KOPELKE AU - TAMER SOROR AU - TOBIAS BARTSCHT AU - SOEREN TVILSTED AU - TROELS W. KJAER AU - STEVEN E. SCHILD TI - Risk Factors for Sleep Disturbances in Patients Scheduled for Radiotherapy of Head-and-Neck Cancer AID - 10.21873/anticanres.15322 DP - 2021 Oct 01 TA - Anticancer Research PG - 5065--5069 VI - 41 IP - 10 4099 - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/41/10/5065.short 4100 - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/41/10/5065.full SO - Anticancer Res2021 Oct 01; 41 AB - Background/Aim: Many patients with head-and-neck cancer are scheduled for irradiation. This study was performed to determine the frequency of and risk factors for pre-radiotherapy sleep disturbances in these patients. Patients and Methods: A total of 103 patients with head-and-neck cancer scheduled for radiotherapy were included in this retrospective study. Eighteen characteristics were evaluated including timing of start of radiotherapy relative to COVID-19 pandemic; age; gender; Karnofsky performance score; Charlson comorbidity index; history of another malignancy; family history of malignancy; distress score; number of emotional, physical or practical problems; request for psychological support; tumor site and stage; upfront surgery; planned chemotherapy; and brachytherapy boost. Results: The frequency of pre-radiotherapy sleep disturbances was 42.7%. This was significantly associated with age ≤63 years (p=0.049), Karnofsky performance score ≤80 (p=0.002), Charlson comorbidity index ≥3 (p=0.005), history of another malignancy (p=0.012), emotional (p=0.001) or physical (p<0.001) problems, and request for psychological support (p=0.002). Conclusion: Sleep disturbances were frequent in patients assigned to radiotherapy of head-and-neck cancer. Recognizing risk factors for sleep disturbance helps identify patients requiring psychological support.