The Effect of a Sleep Education and Hypnotics Reduction Program on Hypnotics Prescription Rate for the Hospitalized Patients with Cancer at a General Hospital

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate whether the sleep education and hypnotics reduction program (the i-sleep program), developed for all hospitalized patients and medical personnel, help reducing the hypnotics prescriptions rate among hospitalized cancer patients in a general hospital. METHODS: Patient data such as hypnotics prescribed at the time of admission and discharge during prior to (year of 2014) and after (year of 2015) initiation of the i-sleep program were collected and compared. Also, hypnotics prescription rate at the first day of each month of 2014 and 2015 were estimated and compared. RESULTS: All of 12,382 patients in 2014 and 12,313 patients in 2015 were admitted to the Department of Oncology of the hospital. In 2014, 782 (6.3%) of 12,382 inpatients were already taking hypnotics at the time of admission, and 594 (76.0%) of the 782 patients were still taking sleeping pills at the time of discharge. Following initiation of the i-sleep program (2015), 792 (6.4%) of 12,313 inpatients were already taking hypnotics at the time of admission, and 553 (69.8%) of the 792 inpatients were still taking them at the time of discharge (relative risk, 0.92; 95% confidence interval, 0.87–0.98). On the first day of each month of 2014, 7.3% to 12.6% (mean, 10.0%) of inpatients had prescriptions for hypnotics. Following initiation of the program, the rate of hypnotic prescription was significantly reduced (3.2–10.8%; mean, 8.0%; p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: Our date showed that the i-sleep program may help to reduce the hypnotic prescription rate in hospitalized cancer patients.