Effects and moderators of exercise on sleep in adults with cancer: Individual patient data and aggregated meta-analyses

P Bernard, J Savard, K Steindorf, M G Sweegers, K S Courneya, R U Newton, N K Aaronson, P B Jacobsen, A M May, D A Galvao, M J Chinapaw, M M Stuiver, K A Griffith, I Mesters, H Knoop, M M Goedendorp, M Bohus, L Thorsen, M E Schmidt, C M UlrichG S Sonke, W van Harten, K M Winters-Stone, M J Velthuis, D R Taaffe, W van Mechelen, M J Kersten, F Nollet, J Wenzel, J Wiskemann, I M Verdonck-de Leeuw, J Brug, L M Buffart

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effects of exercise interventions on sleep disturbances and sleep quality in patients with mixed cancer diagnoses, and identify demographic, clinical, and intervention-related moderators of these effects.

METHODS: Individual patient data (IPD) and aggregated meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Using data from the Predicting OptimaL cAncer RehabIlitation and Supportive care project, IPD of 2173 adults (mean age = 54.8) with cancer from 17 RCTs were analyzed. A complementary systematic search was conducted (until November 2018) to study the overall effects and test the representativeness of analyzed IPD. Effect sizes of exercise effects on self-reported sleep outcomes were calculated for all included RCTs. Linear mixed-effect models were used to evaluate the effects of exercise on post-intervention outcome values, adjusting for baseline values. Moderator effects were studied by testing interactions for demographic, clinical and intervention-related characteristics.

RESULTS: For all 27 eligible RCTs from the updated search, exercise interventions significantly decreased sleep disturbances in adults with cancer (g = -0.09, 95% CI [-0.16; -0.02]). No significant effect was obtained for sleep quality. RCTs included in IPD analyses constituted a representative sample of the published literature. The intervention effects on sleep disturbances were not significantly moderated by any demographic, clinical, or intervention-related factor, nor by sleep disturbances.

CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis provides some evidence that, compared to control conditions, exercise interventions may improve sleep disturbances, but not sleep quality, in cancer patients, although this effect is of a small magnitude. Among the investigated variables, none was found to significantly moderate the effect of exercise interventions on sleep disturbances.

Original languageEnglish
Article number109746
Pages (from-to)1-9
JournalJournal of Psychosomatic Research
Volume124
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Sept 2019

Keywords

  • Cancer
  • Physical activity
  • Treatment, sleep

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Effects and moderators of exercise on sleep in adults with cancer: Individual patient data and aggregated meta-analyses'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this