Prevalence, Severity, and Predictors of Insomnia in Advanced Colorectal Cancer

Insomnia is an under-recognized and undertreated symptom in palliative care and advanced cancer cohorts. Insomnia in an advanced colorectal cancer cohort is yet to be investigated despite colorectal cancer being the third commonest cancer worldwide and one with a high symptom burden.

To examine the prevalence of insomnia and its associations in a large advanced colorectal cancer cohort.

A consecutive cohort study of 18,302 patients with colorectal cancer seen by palliative care services across various settings (inpatient, outpatient, and ambulatory) was conducted from an Australia-wide database (2013-2019). The Symptom Assessment Score (SAS) was used to assess the severity of insomnia. Clinically significant insomnia was defined as SAS score ≥3/10, and used to compare associations with other symptoms and functional scores from validated questionnaires.

The prevalence of any insomnia was 50.5%, and clinically significant insomnia 35.6%, particularly affecting people who were younger (<45-years-old), more mobile (AKPS score ≥70), or physically capable (RUG-ADL score ≤5). Outpatients and patients living at home had higher prevalence of insomnia. Nausea, anorexia and psychological distress were the commonest concurrent symptoms in patients with clinically significant insomnia.

To our knowledge, this study was the first to investigate the prevalence and associations of insomnia in an advanced colorectal cancer cohort. Our findings demonstrate several groups at greater risk of suffering from insomnia (younger, greater physical capacity, living at home, and those with greater psychological distress). This may guide earlier recognition and management of insomnia to improve overall quality of life in this population.