ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the assessment methods and non-pharmacological interventions that can be used for cancer-related insomnia. The most common sleep disorder in the general population and among cancer patients is insomnia. Sleep problems in cancer patients are associated with sexual disorders and increased physical symptoms. A sleep diary is another subjective sleep measure that can help evaluate the severity of insomnia and inform its treatment by highlighting key problem areas in a detailed way. Assessment for insomnia can include multiple sources, including the patient’s self-reported sleep difficulty, objective information on the patient’s behavioral and physiological manifestations of sleep disturbances, and reports from the patient’s significant others vis-a-vis the patient’s quality of sleep. Patients with advanced cancer have high rates of sleep disturbances, which include insomnia and excessive daytime sleepiness. An increasing number of clinical trials have found that cancer patients’ sleep improved as a result of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise.
