Quality of sleep in renal transplant recipients and patients on hemodialysis

- Post-transplantation several aspects of quality of life are improved
- Post renal transplantation there is no beneficial impact on sleep quality
- Quality of sleep should be evaluated pre- and post-transplantation

BackgroundSleep disorders are very common in patients with chronic kidney disease and they may not always subside after kidney transplantation.Aim and methodsThe aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the self-reported quality of sleep, insomnia problems in particular, and examine the factors that disturb sleep of kidney transplant recipients (KTx: n = 152) in comparison to age- and sex-matched patients on dialysis (HD: n = 67) and participants with normal renal function (NOR: n = 49), through the administration of the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS) at least six months after transplantation. Clinical and laboratory data, as well as health-related quality of life, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress symptoms, and the presence of restless legs syndrome (RLS) and pruritus were investigated in relation to sleep problems.ResultsThe highest mean AIS score was observed in the transplant patients (KTx: 4.6 ± 13.3 vs. HD: 3.8 ± 8.1 vs. NOR: 2.4 ± 10.2); both KTx and HD patients had a lower quality of sleep compared to participants with normal renal function. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the determinants of the total AIS score were the frequency of post-traumatic stress symptoms, depression, RLS, diastolic blood pressure, and pain (all p < 0.0001).ConclusionAlthough amelioration of renal function post-transplantation improves several aspects of quality of life, it does not seem to have a beneficial effect on self-reported sleep.