Subjective Sleep Quality and Excessive Daytime Sleepiness in Hemodialysis Patients Waitlisted for Renal Transplant

Objective: Sleep disturbances are common in hemodialysis (HD) patients, impeding their daily activities and reducing their overall quality of life. The aim of this study was to investigate sleep quality and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in HD patients waitlisted for renal transplant. Methods: The study included 137 patients (84 men and 53 women) undergoing HD three times per week; the mean age was 49.74 +/- 12.49 years. I used the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) to identify poor sleepers and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) to identify those with EDS. Results: PSQI scores classified 87 of the 137 patients (63.5%) as poor sleepers, and ESS scores indicated that 47 patients (34.3%) had EDS. Among the 87 poor sleepers, 46% presented with EDS. Among the patients with EDS, 85% were also poor sleepers. Multivariate analysis revealed a positive correlation between the PSQI and ESS scores (P=0.002). Conclusions: Poor sleep quality and EDS are quite common among patients receiving HD, but these sleep disturbances often go undiagnosed or untreated. Better awareness and treatment of SDs could improve quality of life for HD patients waitlisted for renal transplant.