Sleep disturbance is identified as a prominent concern in
cancer patients with detrimental effect on health outcome, which accompanies a decline in functional status, reduces quality of life, and even accelerates deterioration of disease. Therefore, in order to design safe and effective
therapy, and improve the quality of life in
cancer patients, it is necessary to seek the optimal measures of sleep quality evaluation, which include the objective assessments (e.g., polysomnography [PSG], the bispectral index [BIS], actigraphy) and subjective assessments (e.g., Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI],
Insomnia Severity Index [ISI], Epworth
Sleepiness Scale [ESS], Consensus Sleep Diary [CSD]) and understand the status of sleep quality in
cancer patients, especially patients with
cancers in the breast, lung, head and neck, ovaries, and uterus. This review summarizes the common methods used to measure sleep quality and compares the sensitivity, specificity, and practicability of these methods. In addition, the status of sleep disturbance in patients with
cancer is analyzed.