Sleep disorders and home dialysis

Sleep disorders, such as restless legs, periodic limb movements and sleep apnea, and sleep complaints such as insomnia and daytime sleepiness, are very common in end-stage renal disease patients despite treatment with 3-times-a-week conventional hemodialysis. If left untreated, they are likely to impair quality of life and may alter cardiovascular outcomes in this patient population. Home dialysis has the potential to improve sleep disorders by offering more effective dialysis than conventional modalities. Although there has been little direct comparison between the impact of home dialysis and conventional dialysis on sleep disorders, there is evidence that both nocturnal peritoneal dialysis and nocturnal hemodialysis improve sleep apnea. The impact of home dialysis on other sleep disorders and sleep complaints is less impressive, but the data, thus far, have been limited. Further research is required to evaluate the impact of home dialysis on all sleep disorders and sleep complaints in this patient population and to determine whether this improves quality of life and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.