Prevalence of Insomnia among Paediatric Cancer Patients: A Hospital-based Observational Study

Introduction: Insomnia and other sleep disturbances are the common occurrences in paediatric patients suffering from cancer. These may be attributed to the disease itself or its treatment and accompanying psychosocial stress. Sleep disorders including insomnia are known to have a detrimental effect on the quality of life in these patients.

Aim: To estimate the prevalence of insomnia among cancer patients aged 1-15 years admitted in the paediatric oncology ward.

Materials and Methods: A prospective observational, hospital-based study was conducted in the Paediatric Oncology ward, Shri Maharaja Gulab Singh (SMGS) Hospital, Government. Medical College (tertiary care institute), Jammu, India, from June 2022 to August 2022. A total of 50 patients, in the age group of 1-15 years, diagnosed with malignancies like leukaemia, lymphoma, aplastic anaemia, hepatoblastoma, etc., were enrolled after taking informed consent from their parents. Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) was administered to parents of children below 10 years age and to patients themselves who were between 10-15 years to screen for symptoms of insomnia with the help of their parents/investigators as and when required. Continuous variables were expressed as mean±Standard Deviation (SD) and categorical variables were summarised as frequencies and percentages.

Results: The study subjects were distributed according to their age into three groups, as 1-5 years (n=26), 6-10 years (n=16), and 11-15 years (n=8). There were 24 (48%) males and 26 (52%) females. In this study, 32 (64%) study subjects did not have insomnia, 5 (10%) had subthreshold insomnia,13 (26%) had moderate insomnia and none had severe insomnia.

Conclusion: The prevalence of insomnia found in the study was 26%. Insomnia is common in paediatric cancer patients necessitating its recognition and management for improved quality of life.