ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Sleep disturbances are very common in hemodialysis (HD) patients with chronic renal failure (CRF). This study aimed to examine the characteristics of sleep disturbances, and to illustrate the relationship of sleep parameters with clinical parameters reflecting metabolic dysfunction in HD patients with CRF. METHODS: The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and Sleep Disorders Questionnaire (SDQ) were administered in 26 HD patients with CRF. For fifteen patients with the risk of sleep disorder, nocturnal polysomnographic study (NPSG) and blood sampling were done. RESULTS: Among 15 patients, 14 patients (93%) were diagnosed as sleep disorders, sleep breathing disorder or periodic limb movements in sleep. Uric acid (UA) was positively correlated with sleep efficiency (r=0.571), and negatively correlated with waking after sleep onset, the amount of stage 1 sleep, and respiratory disturbance index (r=-0.515, -0.564, -0.646). Interleukin-6 was positively correlated with obstructive apnea index (r=0.661). CONCLUSION: In our study, the difficulty in maintaining sleep was found in HD patients with CRF. It also showed that increased UA was associated with improved sleep maintenance and decreased breathing disturbance during sleep. This might be related with antioxidant effect of UA in CRF. Further studies on total CRF patients including those without the risk of sleep disorder are necessary.