Insomnia in Patients of Chronic Renal Failure on Hemodialysis

Objective: To estimate frequency of insomnia problem in patients of chronic renal failure on hemodialysis (HD). Study design: cross-sectional descriptive study. Place and duration of study: This study was conducted in the department of nephrology combined military hospital (CMH) Lahore from March to July 2010. Patients and Methods: This was an observational cross sectional study carried out over a period of five months to investigate whether the new technical and therapeutic advances of the last decade have had a positive impact on sleep disturbance in HD patients. Forty two patients (34 males, 24 females) at end stage renal disease on hemodialysis were selected conveniently from Nephrology department CMH Lahore. Patients were surveyed by using a specific questionnaire. Diagnostic instruments like Hospital Depression Anxiety Scale (HAD Scale) Urdu version was also used for data collection. Written informed consent was obtained from study participants. Results: Total number of patients were 42 with age ranging between (20 to75 years)–male (27) (64.3%) and female (15) (35.7%). The present study showed that insomnia is still a major problem in these subjects, since 42.9% of our patients complained of this sleep disorder. The gender wise distribution of insomnia was 48.1% in males and 33.3% in females. Higher prevalence of insomnia was found in age group of 26-45years males (80%), females (50%). Conclusion: Study showed a high prevalence of insomnia (43%) in patients of chronic renal failure on hemodialysis.