Prevalence of sleep disturbances in Chinese patients with end stage renal failure on maintenance hemodialysis.
BACKGROUND
Sleep disorders, such as daytime sleepiness, insomnia, restless legs syndrome (RLS) and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) have been reported as prevalent among patients with end stage renal failure(ESRF).


METHODS
As there is little published data from Southeast Asia, a sleep questionnaire was administered to all patients (N=43, 27 males) on chronic hemodialysis (HD) at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong, to assess their sleep complaints.


RESULTS
The mean age was 49.5 +/- 11.3 years (mean I SD) with mean body mass index (BMI) of 22.6 +/- 3.6 kg/m2. Frequent awakenings and sleep onset insomnia were the most frequent complaints (79% each), while daytime sleepiness occurred in 74% of patients. Sleep maintenance insomnia and pruritus occurred in 64% and 60% of patients respectively. Symptoms of RLS were reported by 70% of patients. The prevalence of OSAS was estimated by the frequency of observed choking (4.7% of cases), witnessed apnea (14%), snoring and witnessed apnea (9.3%), disruptive snoring (14%), disruptive snoring and witnessed apnea (2.3%), extremely loud snoring (4.7%).


CONCLUSIONS
Our questionnaire survey revealed a high prevalence of sleep complaints such as frequent awakenings, daytime sleepiness, insomnia and RLS in patients with ESRF on maintenance HD, but a relatively low prevalence of OSAS, which may be related to the low BMI of our ESRF patients.
Hui
David S C
DS
Department of Medicine & Therapeutics, Division of Respiratory Medicine, Prince of Wales Hospital, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong. dschui@cuhk.edu
Wong
Teresa Y H
TY
Li
Thomas S T
TS
Ko
Fanny W S
FW
Choy
Dominic K L
DK
Szeto
Cheuk C
CC
Lui
Siu F
SF
Li
Philip K T
PK
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D051437:Renal Insufficiency / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D012913:Snoring