Yap Jing Yi and J Y YAP
Changi General Hospital, Singapore
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Sleep Disord Ther
Introduction: Sleep disturbance is highly prevalent among palliative patients, estimated to affect up to 75% of patients with advanced cancers. Sleep disturbance can have a huge impact on the quality of life of patients, as well as worsen other symptoms. Method: We examine 3 of our patients with sleep disturbance who have been selected for the case study. The 1st case is a 65-year-old gentleman with ESRF, the 2nd patient is a 40-year-old lady with advanced breast cancer and an underlying sleep disorder, and the 3rd is a 78-year-old gentleman with COPD and refractory breathlessness. Result: Sleep disturbance is largely attributable to a large number of factors such as environment, emotional, physiological and physical causes. However, there is a lack of standard assessment tool and treatment guideline for palliative patients with sleep disturbance. Conclusion: Despite the high incidence of sleep disturbance among palliative cancers, this is often poorly addressed. There is also a lack of referral to sleep specialists, hence resulting in a underdiagnosis of a concurrent underlying sleep disorder. If more sleep disturbances can be identified earlier in palliative patients, interventions can be initiated early, for example, in the clinic setting which can improve their symptoms greatly.
Yap Jing Yi graduated from University of Leicester, UK in 2010, before completing her housemanship in UK. She is currently working in Singapore and has a keen interest in research and palliative medicine.
Email: dr.xinyi.yap@gmail.com
