The Relations Among Sleep Quality And Psychosocial Health In Prostate Cancer Survivors Undergoing Hormone Therapy

Prostate cancer survivors (PCaS) frequently face a range of psychosocial challenges that impact their quality of life. Key factors influencing these outcomes include stress and anxiety. PURPOSE: This study investigated the relations among sleep quality, stress and anxiety in PCaS, to provide insight into the development of potential interventions for improved well-being. METHODS: Ten PCaS (age: 73.7 yrs, SD = 5.7) participated in the baseline measures of a recreational exercise study. Sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, PSQI), anxiety (Memorial Anxiety Scale for Prostate Cancer, MAX-PC), and stress (the Perceived Stress Scale, PSS) were collected. Descriptive statistics and Pearson’s product-moment correlations with 95% confidence interval were calculated in R. RESULTS: A significant moderate correlation was found between PSQI and PSS (r = 0.68, p = 0.032, 95% CI [0.083, 0.916]). The correlation between PSQI and MAX-PC was trending towards significant (r = 0.6, p = 0.69, 95% CI [-0.05, 0.89]). CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary findings revealed a notable correlation between PSQI and PSS, aligning with previous research indicating that prostate cancer patients experiencing insomnia frequently report heightened distress and worry at bedtime. Additionally, the trend towards a significant correlation between PSQI and MAX-PC may suggest that poor sleep quality is associated with increased anxiety in PCaS undergoing hormone therapy. Given the limited sample size and the preliminary nature of this study, these results should be interpreted cautiously, as they may represent an interplay of various psychosocial factors rather than a definitive causal relationship.