Poster Presentation 2025 National Cancer Survivorship Conference

A Randomised Controlled Trial: Evaluating the Sleep Cancer Rest (SleepCaRe) Trial for Improving Anxiety and Depression in Women Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer (#109)

Rebecca Wallace 1 , Maria Ftanou 2 , Daphne Day 3 , Justine Diggens 2 , Marliese Alexander 2 , Bei Bei 1 , Trang Thuy Do 1 , Ivy Hsieh 1 , Jess Wilson 1 , Andrew Phillips 4 , Duncan Mortimer 4 , Michelle White 3 , Veronica Aedo Lopez 3 , Lesley Stafford 5 , Sharad Sharma 6 , Sheila Garland 7 , Frances Boyle 8 , Robert Blum 9 , Prudence Francis 2 , Joshua Wiley 1
  1. School of Psychological Sciences and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  2. Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  3. Monash Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  4. Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  5. Department of Surgery, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  6. Ballarat Regional Integrated Cancer Centre, Ballarat Health Services - Grampians Health, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
  7. Memorial University of Newfoundland, Newfoundland, Canada
  8. Mater Hospital North Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  9. Bendigo Cancer Centre, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia

Background/Aims: Cancer patients face an elevated risk of anxiety and depression compared to the general population. This abstract presents data for the trial secondary aims of effects of sleep interventions on anxiety and depression among early or advanced stage breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

 

Methods/Results: This six-week remotely delivered randomised controlled trial compared Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), Bright Light Therapy (BLT), their combination (CBT-I+BLT), and an active control (Sleep Hygiene Education, SHE) on self-reported PROMIS anxiety and depression symptom measures in women undergoing chemotherapy (N = 219; 100% female). All interventions involved emails and therapist-assisted consultations tailored to cancer patients. Each treatment condition provided varying therapeutic and psychoeducational content (e.g., CBT-I’s behavioural/cognitive strategies, BLT’s structured morning light exposure).


Depression and anxiety scores were within normal-mild ranges at baseline (M = 52.97, SD = 7.89; M = 56.41, SD = 7.87, respectively). Main effects analyses revealed no significant between-group differences (p > .098 for all) at six-weeks. Specifically, differences ranged from -1.53 to 1.20 for depression, and -3.00 to 0.90 for anxiety.

Within-group effects analysis at six-weeks indicated significant reductions in depression and anxiety across all groups (p < .022). For depression, reductions were observed in SHE (-2.17 [-3.80, -0.55], p = 0.009), BLT (-1.87 [-3.47, -0.27], p = 0.022), CBT (-3.70 [-5.39, -2.02], p < 0.001), and CBT-I+BLT (-2.19 [-4.03, -0.35], p = 0.019). For anxiety, significant improvements were observed in SHE (-3.17 [-4.89, -1.46], p < 0.001), BLT (-2.28 [-3.97, -0.58], p = 0.009), CBT (-2.96 [-4.75, -1.18], p = 0.001), and CBT-I+BLT (-5.07 [-7.01, -3.12], p < 0.001), with CBT-I+BLT showing the largest reduction in anxiety.

 

Conclusions: While there were no significant differences between intervention groups, all interventions demonstrated within-group improvements in depression and anxiety, suggesting that sleep-focused interventions may support mental health in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.