Background: To examine associations between phenotypes of short sleep duration and clinically-assessed health conditions in long-term survivors of childhood cancer. Methods: Survivors recruited from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort (n=911; 52% female; mean age 34 years; 26 years post-diagnosis) completed behavioral health surveys and underwent comprehensive physical examinations. Sleep was assessed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Short sleep was defined as <7 hours per night with phenotypes of short sleep including poor sleep efficiency (<85%), prolonged sleep onset latency (≥30 minutes), and wake after sleep onset (≥3 times per week). Covariates included childhood cancer treatment exposures, demographics, body mass index, and physical inactivity. Separate modified Poisson regression models were computed for each health category to estimate relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Multinomial logistic regression models examined associations between sleep and an aggregated burden of chronic health conditions. Results: Short sleep duration was reported among 44% (95% CI 41%-47%) of survivors. In multivariable models, short sleep duration alone was associated with pulmonary (RR=1.35, 95% CI 1.08-1.69), endocrine (RR=1.22, 95% CI 1.06-1.39) and gastrointestinal/hepatic conditions (RR=1.46, 95% CI 1.18-1.79), and anxiety (RR 3.24, 95% CI 1.64-6.41) and depression (RR=2.33, 95% CI 1.27-4.27). Short sleep with prolonged SOL was associated with a high/severe burden of health conditions (OR=2.35, 95% CI 1.12-4.94). Conclusions: Short sleep duration was associated with multiple clinically-ascertained adverse health conditions. Although the temporality of these associations cannot be determined in this cross-sectional study, sleep is modifiable, and improving sleep may improve long-term health in survivors.

Background: Pediatric patients who undergo hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) are at risk for neurocognitive impairments; however, long-term studies are lacking. Procedure: Eligible survivors (HCT at age <21y and ≥1y post-HCT) completed a 60-question survey of neurocognitive function and quality of life, which included the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study Neurocognitive Questionnaire (CCSS-NCQ) and the Neuro-Quality of Life Cognitive Function Short Form (Neuro-QoL). Baseline demographic and transplant characteristics were retrieved from the institutional research database. Analyses of risk factors included univariate comparisons and multivariable logistic regression. Results: Participants (n=199, 50.3% female, 53.3% acute leukemia, 87.9% allogeneic transplants) were surveyed at median age of 37.8 years (range 18-61) at survey and median 27.6 years (range 1-46) from transplant. On the CCSS-NCQ, 18.9-32.5% of survivors reported impairments (Z-score >1.28) in task efficiency, memory, emotional regulation, or organization, compared with expected 10% in the general population (all p<0.01). Certain co-morbidities were associated with impaired CCSS-NCQ scores. However, survivors reported average Neuro-QoL (T-score 49.6±0.7) compared with population normative value of 50 (p=0.52). In multivariable regression, impaired Neuro-QoL (T-score <40) was independently associated with hearing issues (OR 4.79, 95% CI 1.91-12.0), history of stroke or seizure (OR 5.22, 95% CI 1.73-15.7), and sleep disturbances (OR 6.90, 95% CI 2.53-18.9). Conclusions: Although long-term survivors of pediatric HCT reported higher rates of impairment in specific neurocognitive domains, cognitive quality of life was perceived as similar to the general population. Subsets of survivors with certain co-morbidities had substantially worse neurocognitive outcomes.