Sleep Quality in Patients Undergoing Long-term Hemodialysis Using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index

Sleep disturbances are common among uremic patients. However, limited data are available on predictors of the quality of sleep in this population. This study aimed to assess the quality of sleep in patients undergoing hemodialysis and investigate its predictors. In this cross-sectional study, 197 patients on maintenance hemodialysis were consecutively included from three medical centers in Shiraz, southern Iran. They completed the Pittsburgh sleep quality index. Serum calcium, phosphorus, and hemoglobin levels were checked. We also assessed the neck circumference, dialysis shift, dialysis plan, diabetes history, body mass index (BMI), age, and sex. From a total of 197 patients, 124 cases were men. The mean age of the patients was 54.46 ± 14.84 years. Poor quality of sleep was frequent in 90.86% of the cases. Age, BMI, a history of diabetes mellitus and the product of calcium and phosphorus were independent factors affecting the quality of sleep. Serum calcium and phosphorus levels, hemoglobin, sex, dialysis shift, dialysis plan, neck circumference and dialysis quality showed to have no significant effect on the quality of sleep. Poor quality of sleep is very frequent in patients on maintenance hemodialysis. Further studies are required for better understanding of risk factors associated with the poor quality of sleep to find possible treatments for these patients.