Sleep disorders in chronic renal failure patients

Introduction This work aims to assess the prevalence and quality (type) of sleep disorders in chronic renal failure patients. Materials and methods A study was conducted on 40 patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) who were subdivided into two groups; patients not on heamodialysis (HD) (group I) ( n  = 20), and patients on regular HD (group II) ( n  = 20), and 20 sex and age matched control subjects. All subjects were subjected to through neurological examination, sleep complaints history and polysomnography. Results All CRF patients had sleep complaints in the form of difficulty falling asleep (45%), fragmented sleep (55%), early morning awakening (45%) excess daytime sleepiness (25%) and jerking leg movements (15%). Patients group had significantly lower total sleep time, sleep efficiency, slow wave sleep percentage, oxyden desaturation and higher apnea hypopnea index and number of awakenings compared to control group. Sleep efficiency was significantly lower in group I compared to group II while periodic limb movement disorder was more in group II. Conclusion There is a high prevalence of sleep disorders in chronic renal failure CRF patients whether they are on regular HD or not and, proper management of these disorders will improve the morbidity and quality of life of those patient.