Prevalence and Predictors of Sleep Difficulty and Fatigue in Taiwanese Women with Endometrial Cancer: a Prospective Follow-up Study from Diagnosis into the Year after Treatment

Endometrial cancer is one of the most common cancers in Taiwanese women. However, equal attention has not been paid to this population as has been given to women with breast cancer. Surgery is the primary treatment for endometrial cancer, and women suffer multiple symptoms such as endocrine symptoms, depressive symptoms, sleep difficulty, and fatigue before and after surgery. Further, less physical activity was associated with poor sleep and greater fatigue. Therefore, the purposes of this 3-year longitudinal study will be to explore (1) the prevalence of endocrine symptoms, depressive symptoms, physical activity, sleep difficulty, and fatigue in Taiwanese women with endometrial cancer before surgery and in a 12-month follow-up; (2) the changes of subjective and objective sleep difficulty in a 12-month period after surgery; (3) what specific factors will predict the initial levels and the characteristics of the trajectories of subjective and objective sleep difficulty; (4) fatigue experienced over the course of a 12-month period in women with endometrial cancer; and (5) what factors predict the levels of cancer-related fatigue in Taiwanese women with endometrial cancer before surgery and in a 12-month follow-up. The instruments used include the FACT-ES (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Endocrine Symptoms), CES-D (Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression), IPAQ-LC (International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Long form), PSQI (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), and FACT-F (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Fatigue), as well as an actigraph with a sleep diary. A total of 186 women with new cases of endometrial cancer will be recruited for this study, and each participant will be assessed four times: before surgery and at 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months after surgery. Statistic analyses will include descriptive statistics, repeated measurements modeling (RMM), generalized estimating equations (GEE), and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). During the first year, researchers will carry out the first study purpose; they will perform the second and third study purposes during the second year; and during the third year, they will undertake the fourth and fifth study purposes. Results of this study can provide important information for health care providers to provide evidence-based strategies and interventions for this population in time, which may directly or indirectly improve the quality of life for women with endometrial cancer.

Project ID:PC10408-1816
External Project ID:MOST104-2314-B182-058