Psychoneurological Symptoms and Biomarkers of Stress and Inflammation in Newly Diagnosed Head and Neck Cancer Patients: A Network Analysis.

Psychoneurological symptoms are commonly reported by newly diagnosed head and neck cancer (HNC) patients, yet there is limited research on the associations of these symptoms with biomarkers of stress and inflammation. In this article, pre-treatment data of a multi-center cohort of HNC patients were analyzed using a network analysis to examine connections between symptoms (poor sleep quality, anxiety, depression, fatigue, and oral pain), biomarkers of stress (diurnal cortisol slope), inflammation markers (c-reactive protein [CRP], interleukin [IL]-6, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-α]), and covariates (age and body mass index [BMI]). Three centrality indices were calculated: degree (number of connections), closeness (proximity of a variable to other variables), and betweenness (based on the number of times a variable is located on the shortest path between any pair of other variables). In a sample of 264 patients, poor sleep quality and fatigue had the highest degree index; fatigue and CRP had the highest closeness index; and IL-6 had the highest betweenness index. The model yielded two clusters: a symptoms-cortisol slope-CRP cluster and a IL-6-IL-10-TNF-α-age-BMI cluster. Both clusters were connected most prominently via IL-6. Our findings provide evidence that poor sleep quality, fatigue, CRP, and IL-6 play an important role in the interconnections between psychoneurological symptoms and biomarkers of stress and inflammation in newly diagnosed HNC patients.

Sleep quality trajectories from head and neck cancer diagnosis to six months after treatment.

OBJECTIVES: Patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) often report disturbances in their sleep quality, impairing their quality of life. This study aims to examine the trajectories of sleep quality from diagnosis up to 6-month after treatment, as well as the pre-treatment risk factors for poor sleep trajectories. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sleep quality (Pittsburgh sleep quality index) was measured shortly after diagnosis (pre-treatment), and at 3 and 6 months after finishing treatment. Patients were categorized into 5 trajectory groups. We examined the association of sleep quality trajectories with sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, coping style, HNC symptoms, and psychological distress. RESULTS: Among 412 included patients, about a half either had a persistent good sleep (37.6%) or an improving (16.5%) trajectory. About a third had a persistent poor sleep (21.8%) or worsening (10.9%) sleep trajectory. The remaining patients (13.1%), alternated between good and poor sleep. Using persistent good sleep as a reference outcome, persistent poor sleepers were more likely to be woman (odds ratio [OR] = 1.98, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-3.90), use painkillers prior to treatment (OR = 2.52, 95% CI 1.33-4.77), and have more pre-treatment anxiety symptoms (OR = 1.26, 95% CI 1.15-1.38). CONCLUSION: Unfavorable sleep quality trajectories are prevalent among HNC patients from pre-treatment to 6-month after treatment. A periodic sleep evaluation starting shortly after HNC diagnosis is necessary to identify persistent sleep problems, especially among high-risk group.

Poor sleep quality among newly diagnosed head and neck cancer patients: prevalence and associated factors.

BACKGROUND: Head and neck cancer (HNC) patients often suffer from distress attributed to their cancer diagnosis which may disturb their sleep. However, there is lack of research about poor sleep quality among newly diagnosed HNC patients. Therefore, our aim was to investigate the prevalence and the associated factors of poor sleep quality among HNC patients before starting treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted using the baseline data from NET-QUBIC study, an ongoing multi-center cohort of HNC patients in the Netherlands. Poor sleep quality was defined as a Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) total score of > 5. Risk factors examined were sociodemographic factors (age, sex, education level, living situation), clinical characteristics (HNC subsite, tumor stage, comorbidity, performance status), lifestyle factors, coping styles, and HNC symptoms. RESULTS: Among 560 HNC patients, 246 (44%) had poor sleep quality before start of treatment. Several factors were found to be significantly associated with poor sleep: younger age (odds ratio [OR] for each additional year 0.98, 95% CI 0.96-1.00), being female (OR 2.6, 95% CI 1.7-4.1), higher passive coping style (OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.09-1.28), more oral pain (OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.01-1.19), and less sexual interest and enjoyment (OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.06-1.20). CONCLUSION: Poor sleep quality is highly prevalent among HNC patients before start of treatment. Early evaluation and tailored intervention to improve sleep quality are necessary to prepare these patients for HNC treatment and its consequences.

Prevalence of sleep disturbances among head and neck cancer patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to investigate the prevalence rates of various types of sleep disturbances among head and neck cancer (HNC) patients before, during, and after cancer treatment. We performed a systematic search on PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and PsycINFO to find studies that reported the prevalence of any type of sleep disturbance among adult HNC patients. Meta-analyses of prevalence were performed using random effects models, with I2 values to indicate the extent of heterogeneity. In total, 29 studies of accumulatively 2315 HNC patients were included. The quality of the studies was fairly low and the heterogeneity was high. Studies on three types of sleep disturbances were found: insomnia (17 studies), hypersomnolence (12 studies), and sleep-related breathing disturbances (14 studies). The prevalence of insomnia was 29% (95% CI 20-41%) before treatment, 45% (95% CI 33-58%) during treatment, and 40% (95% CI 24-58%) after treatment, while for hypersomnolence the prevalence was 16% (95% CI 7-32%) before treatment and 32% (95% CI 20-48%) after treatment. The prevalence of sleep-related breathing disturbances before and after treatment was 66% (95% CI 44-82%) and 51% (95% CI 34-67%), respectively. These results imply that sleep disturbances are highly prevalent among HNC patients before, during, and after treatment.

Blood Pressure Lowering With Nilvadipine in Patients With Mild-to-Moderate Alzheimer Disease Does Not Increase the Prevalence of Orthostatic Hypotension.

Background Hypertension is common among patients with Alzheimer disease. Because this group has been excluded from hypertension trials, evidence regarding safety of treatment is lacking. This secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial assessed whether antihypertensive treatment increases the prevalence of orthostatic hypotension (OH) in patients with Alzheimer disease. Methods and Results Four hundred seventy-seven patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer disease were randomized to the calcium-channel blocker nilvadipine 8 mg/day or placebo for 78 weeks. Presence of OH (blood pressure drop ≥20/≥10 mm Hg after 1 minute of standing) and OH-related adverse events (dizziness, syncope, falls, and fractures) was determined at 7 follow-up visits. Mean age of the study population was 72.2±8.2 years and mean Mini-Mental State Examination score was 20.4±3.8. Baseline blood pressure was 137.8±14.0/77.0±8.6 mm Hg. Grade I hypertension was present in 53.4% (n=255). After 13 weeks, blood pressure had fallen by -7.8/-3.9 mm Hg for nilvadipine and by -0.4/-0.8 mm Hg for placebo ( P<0.001). Across the 78-week intervention period, there was no difference between groups in the proportion of patients with OH at a study visit (odds ratio [95% CI]=1.1 [0.8-1.5], P=0.62), nor in the proportion of visits where a patient met criteria for OH, corrected for number of visits (7.7±13.8% versus 7.3±11.6%). OH-related adverse events were not more often reported in the intervention group compared with placebo. Results were similar for those with baseline hypertension. Conclusions This study suggests that initiation of a low dose of antihypertensive treatment does not significantly increase the risk of OH in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer disease. Clinical Trial Registration URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unique identifier: NCT02017340.

Development of a Patient-Reported Outcome Measure for Geriatric Care: The Older Persons and Informal Caregivers Survey Short Form.

BACKGROUND: The Older Persons and Informal Caregivers Minimum Data Set (TOPICS-MDS) is a standardized data set that was developed to evaluate the quality of multidimensional geriatric care. There is an inherent need to reduce the number of TOPICS-MDS survey items to core outcomes to allow it to be more easily applied as a patient-reported outcome measure in clinical settings. OBJECTIVES: To create a TOPICS-short form (TOPICS-SF) and examine its validity. METHODS: Data in the TOPICS-MDS from persons aged 65 years and older in the Netherlands were used for the following analyses. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to select the items and to derive domain weights of TOPICS-SF. A priori hypotheses were made on the basis of psychometric properties of the full-length TOPICS-MDS preference-weighted score (TOPICS-CEP). The validity of TOPICS-SF was evaluated by 1) examining the meta-correlation of the TOPICS-SF score with TOPICS-CEP and two quality-of-life measures, that is, the Cantril Ladder score and the EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire utility index, and 2) performing mixed multiple regression of TOPICS-SF scores across key sociodemographic characteristics. RESULTS: TOPICS-SF scores were strongly correlated with the TOPICS-CEP (r = 0.96) and had stronger correlation with the EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire utility index compared with the Cantril Ladder (r = 0.61 and 0.38, respectively). TOPICS-SF scores were higher among older persons who were married, living independently, and having higher levels of education. CONCLUSIONS: We have developed the 22-item TOPICS-SF and demonstrated its validity, supporting its use as a patient-reported outcome measure in geriatric care.