0903 Physical Health Correlates of Subjective and Objective Sleep Markers in Patients with Cancer and Their Caregivers

Abstract Introduction Sleep disturbance is frequently identified in patients with cancer and their caregivers, with detrimental impact on physical health. Less known is the extent to which self-reported and actigraphy-derived sleep patterns correlate between patients and their sleep-partner caregivers, and how the two modes of sleep measurements are related to physical health. Also unknown is the degree to which different operationalizations of actigraphy-derived sleep markers associate with physical health. Methods Patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer and their sleep-partner caregivers (81 dyads: on average 54 years old, 28% female patients, 60% Hispanic) completed sleep diaries daily and wore actigraphy continuously for 14 consecutive days, from which sleep duration and sleep onset latency (SOL) were calculated. Actigraphy-derived sleep markers were adjusted using sleep diary responses in two ways: One used the period participants intended to sleep (sleep intention method), and the other used the total period spent in bed (total bedtime method). Physical health was assessed via self-report and seven consecutive days of saliva collection, from which cortisol slope was quantified. Results Patients and their sleep-partner caregivers reported similar sleep patterns. Sleep duration, but not SOL had moderate level of agreement between self-report and actigraphy. Under the sleep intention method, caregivers’ longer SOL and longer self-reported than actigraphy-derived sleep duration and SOL were related to poorer self-reported physical health (|B|≥0.001, p<.043); none of the associations were significant among patients. On the other hand, under the total bedtime method, patients’ longer self-reported than actigraphy-derived SOL were related to poorer self-reported physical health (B=-0.119, p=.024); and none of the associations were significant among caregivers. Conclusion Findings suggest the employment of multimodal sleep and physical health assessments and operationalizations to precisely understand the characteristics and associations of sleep among patients with cancer and their sleep-partner caregivers. Psychobehavioral sleep interventions may consider paying attention to the differential impact of non-sleep activities in bed on patients’ health. Investigation with other sleep indices (wake after sleep onset and sleep-wake rhythms), self-reported and biological health outcomes, and of the dyadic associations of the study variables between patients and their caregivers is warranted. Support (if any)