Evaluation of the melatonin effect on sleep quality in cancer patients

Melatonin is one of the drugs which are used in the treatment of sleep problems, including insomnia and sleep deprivation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the melatonin effect on sleep quality in patients with cancer.

This quasi-experimental study was performed on cancer patients with trouble sleeping who were treated with melatonin (3 mg per day) for a month. Sleep quality according to the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) questionnaire was evaluated before and after taking melatonin. This study was conducted in the Oncology Clinic of Imam Reza Hospital, Kermanshah City in Iran from August 2016 to February 2018.

There was a significant difference between the sleep quality of patients with cancer before and after taking melatonin (P<0.05). In other words, before taking melatonin, sleep quality of none of the patients was not optimal but after taking melatonin, the sleep quality of 52% of patients was satisfactory. Also, there was a significant difference between the components of subjective sleep quality (P<0.001), sleep latency (P<0.001), sleep duration (P<0.001), sleep efficiency rate (P<0.001), sleep disturbances (P=0.001), and daytime dysfunction (P<0.001) of patients with cancer before and after taking melatonin. There was no significant difference between the components of subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, sleep efficiency rate, sleep disturbances, and daytime dysfunction of cancer patients with age, sex, kind of cancer, and kind of metastasis before and after taking melatonin (P˃0.05).

According to the mentioned findings, it seems that the administration of melatonin to enhance sleep quality in patients with cancer is effective.