Exercise for Cancer-Related Insomnia During and After Treatment: A Systematic Review

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants who work with adults during or after cancer treatment, including therapists in outpatient oncology rehabilitation, acute care, home health, and general orthopedic settings who see survivors reporting poor sleep alongside fatigue and deconditioning.

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants; also relevant to occupational therapists and rehabilitation assistants working in oncology and survivorship care.

Intended audience

Physical Therapy

Level

Introductory

Delivery format

Online, asynchronous, self-paced course: interactive reading with audio or video, and a scored post-test.

Based on

This course reports the findings of a single published systematic review. Every claim, figure and conclusion in the course traces to that paper.

Drozd C, Curtit E, Gillet V, Jacquinot Q, Meneveau N, Mougin F. Exercise Intervention on Insomnia in Patients with a Cancer: A Systematic Review of the Literature. Cancers (Basel). 2024;16(12). doi:10.3390/cancers16122241. PMID: 38927946. PMCID: PMC11201959.

Scope note

This course describes what the review found. It does not issue clinical recommendations of its own, and it does not add evidence from outside the source paper.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Describe the population, the exercise interventions, and the insomnia outcome measures covered by the nine studies included in this systematic review.
2. State how many of the included studies reported reduced insomnia and which forms and intensity of exercise those studies used.
3. Explain the limitations the review authors identified and the conclusion they reached about exercise as an adjunctive approach to cancer-related insomnia.

1. Start Here: How This Course Works
2. Podcast: Exercise and Cancer-Related Insomnia (about nine minutes)
3. Insomnia in Cancer Care: The Problem the Review Set Out to Address
4. How the Review Was Built: Searching, Screening, and Judging the Trials
5. What the Included Studies Reported About Insomnia
6. Where the Evidence Is Thin: Limits the Authors Named
7. What the Findings Could Mean in Rehabilitation Practice
8. Key Takeaways
9. Post-Test and Course Evaluation

Quinn Millington, PT, DPT, ECS is the instructor of record: the licensed clinician who reviewed this course and signed off on it. The name and credentials print on the certificate.

Disclosures. This course was developed by The ConEd Solution, which has a financial interest in its sale. No outside funding or sponsorship was received. The instructor of record has no affiliation with the authors of the source publication or their institutions.

This course awards 0.5 contact hours (30 min). How you earn them:

1. Complete the course. Every lesson, in order.
2. Pass the post-test. Score 80% or higher. Retakes are allowed.
3. Complete the evaluation. A short form rating each learning objective and the course.
4. Download your certificate. It is issued on completion and stays available in My Account.

The episode time is its measured length. Reading, post-test and evaluation times are estimates.

This course is designed to satisfy the quality requirements state boards set for continuing education. Requirements vary by state, and confirming that a course fits your renewal is up to you. Each state’s own acceptance statement is in the credit panel on this page.

1. This course reports the findings of a single published systematic review. Every claim, figure and conclusion in the course traces to that paper.
2. Drozd C, Curtit E, Gillet V, Jacquinot Q, Meneveau N, Mougin F. Exercise Intervention on Insomnia in Patients with a Cancer: A Systematic Review of the Literature. Cancers (Basel). 2024;16(12). doi:10.3390/cancers16122241. PMID: 38927946. PMCID: PMC11201959.
3. Scope note
4. This course describes what the review found. It does not issue clinical recommendations of its own, and it does not add evidence from outside the source paper.