Male Patients on Peritoneal Dialysis Have a Higher Risk of Sleep Apnea

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a renal replacement therapy. One concern is whether patients on PD have a higher risk of sleep apnea (SA) due to intra-abdominal pressure increase and worsened ultrafiltration capacity. Despite this concern, to date, whether the risk of SA differs between PD, hemodialysis (HD), and groups without uremia is still uncertain.

In this retrospective cohort study, data were obtained from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan. This database enrolled almost all patients on dialysis in the country. A total of 7,645 incident patients on PD and 38,225 incident patients on HD were enrolled. In addition, 38,225 patients without uremia were selected as the comparison cohort. Individuals were monitored for the occurrence of SA until 2013.

The results showed that patients on PD, regardless of sex, all had a higher risk of SA than non-dialysis groups. In contrast, the risk of SA in patients on HD was not significantly different from that of patients without uremia. We also compared the risk of SA between patients on PD and HD directly. The results showed that male patients on PD had a significantly higher risk of SA risk than male patients on HD. However, the risk of SA did not differ between female patients on PD and HD.

Patients on PD should receive regular SA assessments and that an increased awareness and a higher index of suspicion for SA should be maintained in these patients, especially male patients.