The relationship between pain, fatigue, sleep disorders and quality of life in adult patients with acute leukaemia: During the first year after diagnosis

Although sleep is vital to all human functioning and poor sleep is a known problem in cancer, it is unclear whether the overall prevalence of the various types of sleep disorders in cancer is known. The purpose of this systematic literature review was to evaluate if the prevalence of sleep disorders could be ascertained from the current body of literature regarding sleep in cancer. This was a critical and systematic review of peer-reviewed, English-language, original articles published from 1980 through 15 October 2013, identified using electronic search engines, a set of key words, and prespecified inclusion and exclusion criteria. Information from 254 full-text, English-language articles was abstracted onto a paper checklist by one reviewer, with a second reviewer randomly verifying 50% (k = 99%). All abstracted data were entered into an electronic database, verified for accuracy, and analyzed using descriptive statistics and frequencies in SPSS (v.20) (North Castle, NY). Studies of sleep and cancer focus on specific types of symptoms of poor sleep, and there are no published prevalence studies that focus on underlying sleep disorders. Challenging the current paradigm of the way sleep is studied in cancer could produce better clinical screening tools for use in oncology clinics leading to better triaging of patients with sleep complaints to sleep specialists, and overall improvement in sleep quality.

In most countries, nurses are the largest group of health-care professionals that provide direct and indirect care to patients in a variety of health settings. The quality of care is strongly linked to their performance, and shortages of nursing staff cause suffering and diminished patient care. In 2008, it was estimated that there were 90 026 nurses in Iran, but health-care facilities need approximately 220 000 nurses in order to deliver optimal nursing care. This review article provides a detailed description of the nursing shortage and related factors in Iran. It is hoped that this will inform both Iranian and international policy-makers and administrators about the current situation in this country.

Develop and validate a health-related quality-of-life (measure for patients with acute and chronic leukemia.