Sleep quality of patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma: a prospective longitudinal study with 5-year follow-up

We evaluated the pre- and postoperative sleep quality of patients with newly diagnosed papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) who underwent thyroid surgery, and investigated the factors associated with persistent poor sleep quality. The Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), Epworth sleepiness scale, and Stanford sleepiness scale were used to estimate sleep quality and daytime sleepiness. Face-to-face surveys were conducted preoperatively, and 1, 4, and 10 months after thyroid surgery. The PSQI was administered during a telephone interview about after 5 years after surgery. Forty-six patients (mean age 47.3 ± 10.1 years) with PTC (11 males, 35 females) were included in this study. Twenty-one participants underwent lobectomy and 25 underwent total thyroidectomy. Preoperatively, 35 (76.1%) patients showed poor sleep quality. PSQI scores at postoperative 1, 4, and 10 months were significantly lower than preoperative scores (p < 0.001). Postoperative 5-year PSQI scores decreased significantly compared to the preoperative scores (p < 0.001). Patients newly diagnosed with PTC suffered from sleep disturbance before and after surgery for at least 10 months, recovering to a comparable rate of sleep disturbance with the general population by 5 years after surgery. Higher preoperative PSQI score was at risk for prolonged poor sleep quality in patients with PTC.