Skip to content

Home-Based Programs for Improving Sleep in Cancer Survivors

A Randomized Phase II Trial Evaluating Two Non-pharmacologic Interventions in Cancer Survivors for the Treatment of Sleep-wake Disturbances

Status
Terminated
Phases
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT00993928
Enrollment
93
Registered
2009-10-14
Start date
2010-04-30
Completion date
2019-05-01
Last updated
2019-12-03

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Cancer Survivor, Fatigue, Psychosocial Effects of Cancer and Its Treatment, Sleep Disorders

Keywords

psychosocial effects of cancer and its treatment, fatigue, sleep disorders, cancer survivor

Brief summary

RATIONALE: Following a program that uses written materials and pre-recorded mp3 devices may help improve the sleep of cancer survivors. It is not yet known which home-based program is more effective in improving the sleep of cancer survivors. PURPOSE: This randomized phase II trial is comparing two home-based programs for improving sleep in cancer survivors.

Detailed description

OBJECTIVES: Primary * To compare the efficacy of two home-based sleep interventions as therapy for sleep-wake disturbances,as measured by sleep latency or time to fall back asleep after initial sleep onset per sleep diaries, at baseline (week 1) and at the end of week 7 in cancer survivors. Secondary * To compare the efficacy of these interventions as therapy for sleep-wake disturbances as measured by the number of awakenings after sleep, sleep quality, sleep difficulty, and sleep latency at baseline (week 1) and weeks 4 and 7 in these participants. * To compare the efficacy of these interventions as therapy for sleep-wake disturbances as measured by the percentage of participants in each group who show improved sleep per the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. * To compare the effects of these interventions on fatigue, mood disturbance, sleep, benefit, and distress in this patient population. * To describe the side effects associated with these interventions in these patients. * To describe patient practice habits and adherence measured via a sleep behavior record. * To explore symptom clusters in this patient population and look at distress as a mediating variable. (Exploratory) * To explore predictors of sleep quality. (Exploratory) OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to current (≥ 1 per week in the past 4 weeks) pharmacological treatment, including anxiolytics, for insomnia or mood (yes vs no), current pharmacologic treatment for pain (yes vs no), sleep difficulty period (≤ 1 month vs \> 1 month), and age (≤ 50 vs 51-70 vs \> 70 years). Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 intervention groups. * Group 1: Participants receive a home-based sleep intervention comprising a Sleep Hygiene Education booklet, printed stimulus-control guidelines, instructions on sleeping restrictions, and a guided-imagery pre-recorded mp3 device. Participants meet with study personnel for intervention refinement and are asked to practice behaviors consistent with the stimulus-control sheet, to read the sleep hygiene booklet one chapter per day for 7 days during the first week, and then as needed during study. They are also instructed to use the CD, with or without headphones, in a quiet and comfortable place without lights for up to 30 minutes every day for 6 weeks before bedtime. Participants are instructed to go to sleep and wake at the same time every day during study intervention. * Group 2: Participants receive a home-based sleep intervention comprising a Sleep Hygiene Education booklet, printed stimulus-control guidelines, and a pre-recorded mp3 device containing short stories and essays. Participants meet with study personnel and are instructed to practice behaviors consistent with the stimulus control sheet, to read the sleep hygiene booklet, and use the CD as in group 1. Participants are not instructed about sleeping restrictions. They are offered the guided-imagery CD after study completion. Patients complete a Three-Day Sleep Behavior Record for 3 consecutive days at baseline and during weeks 4 and 7 of study intervention. Patients also complete questionnaires on Numeric Analog Sleep for Pain Scale, daily use of CD, Sleep Hygiene Practice, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Profile of Mood States, Brief Fatigue Inventory, Distress Thermometer, Side-Effect Questionnaire, and a Subject Global Impression of Change at baseline, during weeks 2 and 6, and after completion of study intervention.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALHome-based sleep intervention

Participants will be asked to practice behaviors consistent with the stimulus control sheet and to read the sleep hygiene booklet.

Sponsors

National Cancer Institute (NCI)
CollaboratorNIH
Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: * Prior diagnosis of cancer * At least 2 months and ≤ 24 months since completed curative-intent treatment (chemotherapy, surgery, and/or radiotherapy) * Ongoing hormonal therapy (i.e., tamoxifen, aromatase inhibitors, casodex) * Concurrent trastuzumab and maintenance rituximab allowed * Sleep difficulty defined as self report of sleep latency of ≥ 30 minutes on 3 out of 7 nights in a week and wishing therapeutic intervention, and/or self report of waking up after first falling asleep and not being able to fall back asleep for ≥ 30 minutes on 3 out of 7 nights in a week * No history of diagnosis of primary insomnia (patient medical record, defined by having had behavioral, cognitive, or pharmacologic treatment) for \> 30 consecutive days in the year before cancer diagnosis * No active cancer (i.e., not considered no evidence of disease) * No concurrent CNS malignancy * No history of diagnosed sleep disorder (i.e., obstructive sleep apnea, restless legs, or periodic leg movement disorder) PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: * ECOG performance status 0-1 * Availability of a CD player and head or earphones * Ability to complete questionnaires * No uncontrolled chronic pain (i.e., pain score of ≥ 4 on Numeric Analogue Sleep and Pain Scale) * No diagnosis of major depression disorder, acute anxiety disorder, or schizophrenia per medical record * No hot flashes that interrupt sleep * Not working overnight hours and unable to change schedule * No emotional, psychological, or physical state that, according to physician and/or study personnel evaluation, would preclude adherence to daily home intervention implementation PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: * See Disease Characteristics * More than 4 days since prior corticosteroid, including inhaled steroids, of any dose for \> 2 days * No prior experience with guided imagery or cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia * No concurrent new herbal therapies * Stable dose of daily herbal supplements started ≥ 8 weeks before study intervention allowed * Herbal teas or herbs in various drink products allowed * No concurrent treatment with variable doses of any of the following: * Antidepressants * Anxiolytics * Pain medication (not including over the counter ad anti-inflammatory pain relievers) * Pharmacologic treatment for sleep/wake disturbances is allowed, but must be used for 4 weeks before study entry, and can be used daily or intermittently

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change of the (3 Day) Sleep Latency Time and Time to Fall Back Asleep After Awakening During the Night From Baseline to the End of Study at Week 7Baseline and 7 weeksThe primary analysis will compare the change in time (in minutes) to fall asleep from baseline to week 7 as reported by question 3 in the sleep diary: How long did it take you to get to sleep last night? and time to fall back asleep after awakening during the night as reported by question 6A on sleep dairy: When waking up after first falling asleep, how long did it take you to fall back to sleep? \> \> Data were analyzed as a percent change from baseline to week 7. The percent change were compared between arms using a Wilcoxon rank-sum test.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Efficacy of Home-based Interventions on the Number of Awakenings After Sleep, Sleep Quality, Sleep Difficulty, and Sleep Latency at Baseline and Weeks 4 and 7.Baseline and 7 weeksOverall efficacy was analyzed as a composite of 4 outcomes: 1. sleep difficulty, 2. sleep quality, 3. Number of awakenings, and 4. Sleep latency. These 4 outcomes were measured by the responses to the following questions, respectively:\> 1. How difficult was it to get to sleep last night? (scale 1-5, 5 meaning very easy)\> 2. How deeply did you sleep last night? (scale 1-5, 5 meaning very deeply)\> 3. How many times did you awaken last night?\> 4. How long did it take you to get to sleep last night?\> \> The 4 questions were analyzed as percent change from baseline after week 4 and after week 7. The percent change between arms was analyzed using a Wilcoxon test.
Comparing the Efficacy of Two Home-based Sleep Interventions as Therapy for Sleep-wake Disturbances as Measured by the Percent of People Who Show Improved Sleep Per the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)Baseline and 7 weeksThe PSQI has 19 items and seven component scales: subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep-wake disturbances, use of sleep medication, and daytime dysfunction. The scoring algorithm yields seven component scales on 0-3 scales which are summed to produce a global score on a 0-21 scale with higher values representing more severe sleep difficulty. The percentage of patients that showed improvement or worsening in sleep score from baseline to Week 7 were analyzed and compared using a Chi-squared test.
Total Mood Disturbance as Measured by Profiles of Mood States B (POMS-B)At baseline and week 7The POMS-B is a shortened version of the original POMS with 30 items each asking the patient to select how he/she has been feeling during the past week with respect to an adjective such as tense, angry, worn out, etc., on a 0-4 scale (0=not at all; 4=extremely). The POMS-B consists of six identifiable mood states (tension/anxiety, depression/dejection, anger/hostility, vigor/activity, fatigue/inertia, and confusion/bewilderment) and measures the patient's total mood disturbance. This study analyzed total mood disturbance (total scale score) as a secondary endpoints. Possible weekly scores ranged from 0-120. Week 7 scores were analyzed as a percentage change from baseline with a negative score representing a worsening condition. A Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to compare treatment arms.
Distress at Week 6From baseline to week 7The Distress Thermometer is a single-item tool which asks patients to describe how much distress he/she has been experiencing in the past week on a scale of 0 to 10 (0=no distress, 10=extreme distress). The Distress Thermometer was selected for this study due to its brevity. Week 7 distress measures were analyzed as percent change from baseline and analyzed between arms with a t-test.

Countries

United States

Participant flow

Participants by arm

ArmCount
Arm A: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #1
Participants listen to a pre-recorded mp3 device #1 before retiring to sleep. Only patients in Arm A will have assigned bed and wake times based on their baseline diary.
43
Arm B: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #2
Participants will listen to a pre-recorded mp3 device #2 before retiring to sleep. At the end of the study, participants assigned to pre-recorded mp3 device #2 will be offered pre-recorded mp3 device #1 for their own use.
38
Total81

Withdrawals & dropouts

PeriodReasonFG000FG001
Overall Studyineligible10
Overall StudyWithdrawal by Subject47

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicArm A: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #1Arm B: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #2Total
Age, Continuous55 years59 years57 years
Region of Enrollment
United States
43 participants38 participants81 participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
35 Participants32 Participants67 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
8 Participants6 Participants14 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
EG001
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
0 / 440 / 43
other
Total, other adverse events
22 / 4418 / 43
serious
Total, serious adverse events
1 / 440 / 43

Outcome results

Primary

Change of the (3 Day) Sleep Latency Time and Time to Fall Back Asleep After Awakening During the Night From Baseline to the End of Study at Week 7

The primary analysis will compare the change in time (in minutes) to fall asleep from baseline to week 7 as reported by question 3 in the sleep diary: How long did it take you to get to sleep last night? and time to fall back asleep after awakening during the night as reported by question 6A on sleep dairy: When waking up after first falling asleep, how long did it take you to fall back to sleep? \> \> Data were analyzed as a percent change from baseline to week 7. The percent change were compared between arms using a Wilcoxon rank-sum test.

Time frame: Baseline and 7 weeks

Population: In Arm A, 4 went off treatment prior to week 7 and 2 had missing data. 23 patients were able to respond to question 6A. In Arm B, 7 did not finish 7 weeks of treatment and 1 patient had missing data. 16 patients responded to question 6A. Therefore, Q3 and Q6A are based on 37 and 23 patients in Arm A and 30 and 23 patients from Arm B, respectively.

ArmMeasureGroupValue (MEDIAN)
Arm A: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #1Change of the (3 Day) Sleep Latency Time and Time to Fall Back Asleep After Awakening During the Night From Baseline to the End of Study at Week 7Q3: Sleep Latency-25 percentage change
Arm A: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #1Change of the (3 Day) Sleep Latency Time and Time to Fall Back Asleep After Awakening During the Night From Baseline to the End of Study at Week 7Q6A: TIme to fall back Asleep-17 percentage change
Arm B: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #2Change of the (3 Day) Sleep Latency Time and Time to Fall Back Asleep After Awakening During the Night From Baseline to the End of Study at Week 7Q3: Sleep Latency-45.6 percentage change
Arm B: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #2Change of the (3 Day) Sleep Latency Time and Time to Fall Back Asleep After Awakening During the Night From Baseline to the End of Study at Week 7Q6A: TIme to fall back Asleep-40 percentage change
Comparison: Comparison of Q3: Percent change in sleep latency from baseline to week 7.p-value: 0.85Wilcoxon (Mann-Whitney)
Comparison: Comparison of Q6A: Percent change in time to fall back asleep from baseline to week 7.p-value: 0.86Wilcoxon (Mann-Whitney)
Secondary

Comparing the Efficacy of Two Home-based Sleep Interventions as Therapy for Sleep-wake Disturbances as Measured by the Percent of People Who Show Improved Sleep Per the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)

The PSQI has 19 items and seven component scales: subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep-wake disturbances, use of sleep medication, and daytime dysfunction. The scoring algorithm yields seven component scales on 0-3 scales which are summed to produce a global score on a 0-21 scale with higher values representing more severe sleep difficulty. The percentage of patients that showed improvement or worsening in sleep score from baseline to Week 7 were analyzed and compared using a Chi-squared test.

Time frame: Baseline and 7 weeks

Population: Thirty-six patients from Arm A and 31 patients from Arm B had PSQI measurements available for analysis.

ArmMeasureGroupValue (NUMBER)
Arm A: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #1Comparing the Efficacy of Two Home-based Sleep Interventions as Therapy for Sleep-wake Disturbances as Measured by the Percent of People Who Show Improved Sleep Per the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)Improvement36 percentage of participants
Arm A: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #1Comparing the Efficacy of Two Home-based Sleep Interventions as Therapy for Sleep-wake Disturbances as Measured by the Percent of People Who Show Improved Sleep Per the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)Worsening3 percentage of participants
Arm A: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #1Comparing the Efficacy of Two Home-based Sleep Interventions as Therapy for Sleep-wake Disturbances as Measured by the Percent of People Who Show Improved Sleep Per the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)No Chanage61 percentage of participants
Arm B: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #2Comparing the Efficacy of Two Home-based Sleep Interventions as Therapy for Sleep-wake Disturbances as Measured by the Percent of People Who Show Improved Sleep Per the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)Improvement48 percentage of participants
Arm B: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #2Comparing the Efficacy of Two Home-based Sleep Interventions as Therapy for Sleep-wake Disturbances as Measured by the Percent of People Who Show Improved Sleep Per the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)Worsening0 percentage of participants
Arm B: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #2Comparing the Efficacy of Two Home-based Sleep Interventions as Therapy for Sleep-wake Disturbances as Measured by the Percent of People Who Show Improved Sleep Per the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)No Chanage52 percentage of participants
p-value: 0.42Chi-squared
Secondary

Distress at Week 6

The Distress Thermometer is a single-item tool which asks patients to describe how much distress he/she has been experiencing in the past week on a scale of 0 to 10 (0=no distress, 10=extreme distress). The Distress Thermometer was selected for this study due to its brevity. Week 7 distress measures were analyzed as percent change from baseline and analyzed between arms with a t-test.

Time frame: From baseline to week 7

Population: All patients that completed a Distress Thermometer assessment at baseline and week 7 were included in the analysis.

ArmMeasureValue (MEDIAN)
Arm A: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #1Distress at Week 610 percentage of change
Arm B: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #2Distress at Week 610 percentage of change
Comparison: Compare percent change from baseline to week 7 Distress Thermometer score.p-value: 0.64t-test, 2 sided
Secondary

Efficacy of Home-based Interventions on the Number of Awakenings After Sleep, Sleep Quality, Sleep Difficulty, and Sleep Latency at Baseline and Weeks 4 and 7.

Overall efficacy was analyzed as a composite of 4 outcomes: 1. sleep difficulty, 2. sleep quality, 3. Number of awakenings, and 4. Sleep latency. These 4 outcomes were measured by the responses to the following questions, respectively:\> 1. How difficult was it to get to sleep last night? (scale 1-5, 5 meaning very easy)\> 2. How deeply did you sleep last night? (scale 1-5, 5 meaning very deeply)\> 3. How many times did you awaken last night?\> 4. How long did it take you to get to sleep last night?\> \> The 4 questions were analyzed as percent change from baseline after week 4 and after week 7. The percent change between arms was analyzed using a Wilcoxon test.

Time frame: Baseline and 7 weeks

Population: In Arm A, 38 patients responded to questions during week 4 and 37 responded during week 7. In Arm B, 31 patients responded during week 4 and 30 responded during week 7.

ArmMeasureGroupValue (MEDIAN)
Arm A: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #1Efficacy of Home-based Interventions on the Number of Awakenings After Sleep, Sleep Quality, Sleep Difficulty, and Sleep Latency at Baseline and Weeks 4 and 7.Sleep Difficulty: Week 418 percentage of change
Arm A: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #1Efficacy of Home-based Interventions on the Number of Awakenings After Sleep, Sleep Quality, Sleep Difficulty, and Sleep Latency at Baseline and Weeks 4 and 7.Sleep Difficulty: Week 720 percentage of change
Arm A: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #1Efficacy of Home-based Interventions on the Number of Awakenings After Sleep, Sleep Quality, Sleep Difficulty, and Sleep Latency at Baseline and Weeks 4 and 7.Sleep Quality: Week 413 percentage of change
Arm A: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #1Efficacy of Home-based Interventions on the Number of Awakenings After Sleep, Sleep Quality, Sleep Difficulty, and Sleep Latency at Baseline and Weeks 4 and 7.Sleep Quality: Week 722 percentage of change
Arm A: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #1Efficacy of Home-based Interventions on the Number of Awakenings After Sleep, Sleep Quality, Sleep Difficulty, and Sleep Latency at Baseline and Weeks 4 and 7.Number of Awakenings: Week 4-40 percentage of change
Arm A: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #1Efficacy of Home-based Interventions on the Number of Awakenings After Sleep, Sleep Quality, Sleep Difficulty, and Sleep Latency at Baseline and Weeks 4 and 7.Number of Awakenings: Week 7-50 percentage of change
Arm A: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #1Efficacy of Home-based Interventions on the Number of Awakenings After Sleep, Sleep Quality, Sleep Difficulty, and Sleep Latency at Baseline and Weeks 4 and 7.Sleep Latency: Week 4-37 percentage of change
Arm A: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #1Efficacy of Home-based Interventions on the Number of Awakenings After Sleep, Sleep Quality, Sleep Difficulty, and Sleep Latency at Baseline and Weeks 4 and 7.Sleep Latency: Week 7-24 percentage of change
Arm B: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #2Efficacy of Home-based Interventions on the Number of Awakenings After Sleep, Sleep Quality, Sleep Difficulty, and Sleep Latency at Baseline and Weeks 4 and 7.Sleep Latency: Week 7-49 percentage of change
Arm B: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #2Efficacy of Home-based Interventions on the Number of Awakenings After Sleep, Sleep Quality, Sleep Difficulty, and Sleep Latency at Baseline and Weeks 4 and 7.Sleep Difficulty: Week 437.5 percentage of change
Arm B: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #2Efficacy of Home-based Interventions on the Number of Awakenings After Sleep, Sleep Quality, Sleep Difficulty, and Sleep Latency at Baseline and Weeks 4 and 7.Number of Awakenings: Week 4-44 percentage of change
Arm B: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #2Efficacy of Home-based Interventions on the Number of Awakenings After Sleep, Sleep Quality, Sleep Difficulty, and Sleep Latency at Baseline and Weeks 4 and 7.Sleep Difficulty: Week 745 percentage of change
Arm B: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #2Efficacy of Home-based Interventions on the Number of Awakenings After Sleep, Sleep Quality, Sleep Difficulty, and Sleep Latency at Baseline and Weeks 4 and 7.Sleep Latency: Week 4-48 percentage of change
Arm B: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #2Efficacy of Home-based Interventions on the Number of Awakenings After Sleep, Sleep Quality, Sleep Difficulty, and Sleep Latency at Baseline and Weeks 4 and 7.Sleep Quality: Week 420 percentage of change
Arm B: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #2Efficacy of Home-based Interventions on the Number of Awakenings After Sleep, Sleep Quality, Sleep Difficulty, and Sleep Latency at Baseline and Weeks 4 and 7.Number of Awakenings: Week 7-48 percentage of change
Arm B: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #2Efficacy of Home-based Interventions on the Number of Awakenings After Sleep, Sleep Quality, Sleep Difficulty, and Sleep Latency at Baseline and Weeks 4 and 7.Sleep Quality: Week 729 percentage of change
Secondary

Total Mood Disturbance as Measured by Profiles of Mood States B (POMS-B)

The POMS-B is a shortened version of the original POMS with 30 items each asking the patient to select how he/she has been feeling during the past week with respect to an adjective such as tense, angry, worn out, etc., on a 0-4 scale (0=not at all; 4=extremely). The POMS-B consists of six identifiable mood states (tension/anxiety, depression/dejection, anger/hostility, vigor/activity, fatigue/inertia, and confusion/bewilderment) and measures the patient's total mood disturbance. This study analyzed total mood disturbance (total scale score) as a secondary endpoints. Possible weekly scores ranged from 0-120. Week 7 scores were analyzed as a percentage change from baseline with a negative score representing a worsening condition. A Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to compare treatment arms.

Time frame: At baseline and week 7

Population: Patients that completed the POMS-B questionnaire at baseline and week 7 were used in this analysis.

ArmMeasureValue (MEDIAN)
Arm A: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #1Total Mood Disturbance as Measured by Profiles of Mood States B (POMS-B)7.8 percentage of change
Arm B: Home-based Sleep Intervention With Device #2Total Mood Disturbance as Measured by Profiles of Mood States B (POMS-B)7.8 percentage of change

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 27, 2026