A Comparative Study of Sleep Parameters in Adult Survivors of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Healthy Peers: Insights from Accelerometer Data

Abstract

Background. Sleep problems are among the common late side effects of treatment that can occur in survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. At present, the objective evaluation of sleep in the natural environment using actigraphy rather than self-assessment of research participants or the more demanding polysomnography is increasingly coming to the forefront in population epidemiological studies. The main objective of this cross-sectional study is to objectively characterize selected sleep parameters with respect to gender in adult survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALS) in their natural environment and to compare them with a control group (CG) sampled from a healthy population. Another partial aim of the study is to determine the fulfillment of recommendations in the areas of sleep (SL) and sleep efficiency (SE). Methods. 20 ALS and 20 CGs aged 18–30 years participated in the survey. The ALS were diagnosed on average 15.5 years ago. Selected sleep parameters were measured instrumentally by means of an Axivity AX3 accelerometer worn on the wrist for seven days in a natural environment. Results. No significant differences were found between the ALS and CG groups for the selected sleep parameters. The total time in bed for the ALS was 405.5 min/day compared to 428.2 min/day for the CG ( p = 0.37 ), sleep for the ALS was 372.7 min/day compared to 382.9 min/day for the CG ( p = 0.34 ), and SE for the ALS was 88.0% compared to 88.5% for the CG ( p = 0.99 ). No significant gender differences were found. The sleep recommendation of >420 min/day was met by 15% for the ALS and 19% for the CG; SE > 85% was achieved by 80% for the ALS and 80% for the CG. Conclusion. The results of our study suggest that ALS may achieve the same values as the healthy population in selected sleep parameters.