Perioperative non-pharmaceutical therapies for insomnia in cancer survivors: a systematic review and network meta-analysis protocol

Abstract

Introduction The presence of perioperative insomnia is common but yet often overlooked among cancer survivors. Non-pharmaceutical therapies have shown promise in treating cancer-related insomnia during the perioperative period; however, the existing evidence from various studies remains inconsistent. Therefore, this study aims to systematically review and assess the effectiveness of a wide range of non-pharmaceutical interventions during perioperative period for cancer-related insomnia. Findings from this study will help to make evidence-based treatment decisions.Methods and analysis A comprehensive electronic search will be conducted to identify relevant articles from multiple databases, including PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Chinese literature databases such as CNKI, VIP, Wanfang from inception to 1 December 2023. Language restrictions will not be imposed to ensure inclusivity. The change of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index or the Insomnia Severity Index from baseline will be used as the primary outcome of the study. Studies using these as secondary outcomes are also acceptable. Pairwise meta-analysis and network meta-analysis will be conducted using Stata V.15.0 software. The Cochrane collaboration tool for assessing the Risk of Bias and Risk of Bias in Non-randomised Studies of Interventions will be used for risk and bias assessment. Additionally, the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation scale will be employed to evaluate the quality of the evidence.Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval is not required for this study since it involves the analysis of existing studies. The anticipated results will be disseminated through publication in a peer-reviewed journal.PROSPERO registration number CRD42023437356.