Daytime Sleepiness and Quality of Life in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients

We aimed to compare automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) therapy with regard to patients' excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and quality of life (QOL). EDS was assessed with the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and QOL with the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form (SF-36) health survey. We included 59 patients (CAPD/APD, 30/29; male/female, 33/26; age, 45.3 +/- 15.8 years; dialysis duration, 42.0 +/- 33.6 months). The CAPD and APD groups were similar with respect to factors that affected sleep quality (age, sex, duration of PD), smoking, alcohol intake, socioeconomic status, body mass index, comorbid disease, and various laboratory parameters. Although one patient (3.3%) treated with CAPD and four patients (13.8%) treated with APD experienced EDS, there was no significant differences in ESS scores between the CAPD and APD patients. There was no difference in the SF-36 total and subscale scores when APD patients were compared with CAPD patients. The independent predictors of ESS were the serum albumin level (beta = -2.04, P < 0.01), total SF-36 score (beta = 0.08, P = 0.02), social functioning score (beta = -2.47, P = 0.01), and role-emotional subscale score (beta = -1.12, P = 0.05). The incidence of EDS was slightly higher in APD patients, but it did not negatively affect daily activities or QOL.