Short Sleep Duration and Its Correlates among Cancer Survivors in Korea: the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys

Abstract

<b>Background:</b> Though a large proportion of cancer survivors are assumed to be commonly affected by sleepdisturbance, few studies have focused on short sleep problems and its correlates among Korean cancer survivors.The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of short sleep in adult cancer survivors from a nationwidepopulation-based sample and to identify risk factors for short sleep duration. Materials and <br/><b>Methods</b>: Based onthe fourth and fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (2007-2012), 1,045 cancer survivorsand 33,929 non-cancer controls were analyzed. The prevalence of short sleep was compared between these twogroups. Associations between short sleep and its correlates were evaluated using multiple logistic regression amongcancer survivors: odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) were estimated after adjusting forsociodemographic factors, lifestyle factors, psychological conditions, and cancer-related factors. <br/><b>Results</b>: About8.1% of cancer survivors slept for less than 5 hours per day (6.2% men and 9.3% women), whereas this was thecase for only 3.7% of non-cancer controls. Cancer survivors who had the lowest household income level showeda significantly higher likelihood for short sleep (adjusted OR 2.82, 95%CI 1.06-7.54). Self-reported poor healthand depressive symptoms were found to be associated with significantly increased likelihood for short sleep incancer survivors (adjusted OR 3.60, 95%CI 1.40-9.26 and adjusted OR 2.00, 95%CI 1.17-3.42). Gastric cancersurvivors had a 3.97-fold increased risk for short sleep (95%CI 1.60-9.90). <br/><b>Conclusions</b>: The prevalence of shortsleep occurs at a high rate among the Korean cancer survivors, which may indicate a poorer quality of life anda higher risk of future complications in survivorship. Targeted interventions that can assist cancer survivorsto cope with sleep disturbances as well as ensuring psychological stability are warranted to reduce the latentdisease burden.