Sleep disorders in peritoneal and haemodialysis patients as assessed by a self-administered questionnaire

Sleep disorders have been reported as a frequent problem in dialysis patien ts. However, only one paper has compared the prevalence and possible causes of this complication in peritoneal (PD) and haemodialysis (HD) patients. We surveyed 84 PD and 87 HD patients about disordered sleep using a self-ad ministered questionnaire. Forty-nine percent of PD and 56% of HD patients r eported problems sleeping. These problems were rated as severe by 29 PD and 22 HD patients. Type of disturbances involved delayed sleeping (13 PD and 32 HD, p< 0.005), interrupted sleep (32 PD and 44 HD) and early morning awa kening (25 PD and 37 HD). The number of hours of sleep varied widely among patients: it was 5 and 21 minutes in PD patients with sleep disorders and 7 and 37 min in PD pts without such problems. No statistically significant r elationship was evidenced between sleep disorders and age, sex, body weight obesity, duration of dialysis, dialysis dose, self-assessed sadness, anxie ty, worry, pain, pruritus, dyspnoea, restless leg syndrome, use of cigarett es, caffeine, or sleeping pills. In conclusion, sleep disorders are a frequent problem in both PD and HD pat ients. Apparently the relationship with demographics, dialysis dose, lifest yle and personality traits is poor. The possible role of other causes shoul d be investigated.