Related Articles

Background

Studies examining sleep in the hemodialysis (HD) population have largely lacked an adequate comparison group. It therefore remains uncertain if poor sleep quality among the HD population reflects the age, chronic health conditions, or the effects of conventional hemodialysis.

Study Design

Cross-sectional matched-group study

Setting & Participants

Forty-six in-center hemodialysis patients were compared with 137 community subjects participating in the Sleep Heart Health Study matched for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), and race.

Predictor

HD patients compared to community dwelling non-HD subjects.

Outcomes and Measurements

Home unattended polysomnography (PSG) was performed and scored using similar protocols. Sleep habits and sleepiness were assessed using the Sleep Habits Questionnaire and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale.

Results

The average age of the study samples was 63 years, 72% were white, and the average BMI was 28±5 kg/m2. HD patients were significantly more likely than the community participants to have short sleep (odds ratio [OR] 3.27; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.16–9.25) and decreased sleep efficiency (OR 5.5; CI 1.5–19.6). The HD patients reported more difficulty getting back to sleep (OR 2.25; CI 1.11–4.60) and waking up too early (OR 2.39; CI 1.01–5.66). There was no association between PSG sleep time and self-reported sleep time (r=0.09; p=0.6) or between the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and the severity of sleep apnea (r=0.10; p=0.5) in the HD population.

Limitations

The study was limited to participants older than 45 years.

Conclusions

Kidney failure treated with thrice-weekly HD is significantly associated with poor subjective and objective sleep quality.

Objective

It has been suggested that oxidative stress and inflammation are associated with the pathophysiology of sleep disorders in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. We examined the relationship of the sleep variables reflecting sleep breathing disorder and limb movements during sleep with the clinical variables reflecting the metabolic abnormalities in ESRD patients receiving hemodialysis.

Methods

Nocturnal polysomnography was conducted in 30 ESRD patients (21 men, 9 women), who were receiving hemodialysis. Blood was sampled before hemodialysis for each patient in order to measure uric acid (UA), C-reactive protein (CRP), and interleukin-6 (IL-6).

Results

UA was correlated positively with the total sleep time (TST)(r=0.407) and negatively with the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and oxygen desaturation index (ODI)(r=-0.377, -405).

Conclusion

CRP was positively correlated with the limb movement index (LMI)(r=0.401). Our study showed that increased UA was related to decreased respiratory disturbance during sleep in ESRD patients receiving hemodialysis.

Objective

To evaluate if anger expression affects sleep quality in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). Research has indicated that poor sleep quality independently predicts adverse outcomes in patients with CHD. Risk factors for poor sleep quality include older age, socioeconomic factors, medical comorbidities, lack of exercise, and depression.

Methods

We sought to examine the association of anger expression with sleep quality in 1020 outpatients with CHD from the Heart and Soul Study. We assessed anger-in, anger-out, and anger temperament, using the Spielberger State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory 2, and measured sleep quality, using items from the Cardiovascular Health Study and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. We used multivariate analysis of variance to examine the association between anger expression and sleep quality, adjusting for potential confounding variables.

Results

Each standard deviation (SD) increase in anger-in was associated with an 80% greater odds of poor sleep quality (odds ratio (OR) = 1.8, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 1.6–2.1; p < .0001). This association remained strong after adjusting for demographics, comorbidities, lifestyle factors, medications, cardiac function, depressive symptoms, anger-out, and anger temperament (adjusted OR = 1.4, 95% CI = 1.5–1.7; p = .001). In the same model, each SD increase in anger-out was associated with a 21% decreased odds of poor sleep quality (OR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.64–0.98; p = .03). Anger temperament was not independently associated with sleep quality.

Conclusions

Anger suppression is associated with poor sleep quality in patients with CHD. Whether modifying anger expression can improve sleep quality or reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality deserves further study.

Objective

Both the incidence and the prevalence of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in elderly patients are increasing worldwide. Elderly ESRD patients have been found to be more prone to depression than the general population. There are many studies that have addressed the relationship between sleep quality (SQ), depression, and health related quality of life (HRQoL) in ESRD patients, but previous studies have not confirmed the association in elderly hemodialysis (HD) patients. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to demonstrate this relationship in elderly HD patients.

Patients and methods

Sixty-three elderly HD patients (32 females and 31 males aged between 65 and 89 years) were included in this cross-sectional study. A modified Post-Sleep Inventory (PSI), the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item short form health survey, and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were applied.

Results

The prevalence of poor sleepers (those with a PSI total sleep score [PSI-4 score] of 4 or higher) was 71% (45/63), and the prevalence of depression was 25% (16/63). Of the 45 poor sleepers, 15 had depression, defined as a BDI score of 17 or higher. Poor sleepers had a significantly higher rate of diabetes mellitus (P = 0.03), significantly higher total BDI scores, and lower Physical Component Scale scores (ie, lower HRQoL) than good sleepers. The PSI-4 score correlated negatively with Physical Component Scale (r = −0.500, P < 0.001) and Mental Component Scale scores (r = −0.527, P < 0.001) and it correlated positively with the BDI score (r = 0.606, P < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, independent variables of PSI-4 score were BDI score (beta value [β] = 0.350, P < 0.001), Mental Component Scale score (β = −0.291, P < 0.001), and age (β = 0.114, P = 0.035).

Conclusion

Poor SQ is a very common issue and is associated with both depression and lower HRQoL in elderly HD patients.

Background

Self-reported physical health and functioning and direct measures of physical performance are decreased in hemodialysis patients and are associated with mortality and hospitalization.

Study Design

We determined baseline cross-sectional associations of physical performance, health, and functioning with demographics, clinical characteristics, nutritional indexes, laboratory benchmarks, and measures of body composition in participants in the Frequent Hemodialysis Network (FHN) trial.

Setting & Participants

375 persons enrolled in the FHN with data for physical performance, health, and functioning.

Predictors

Explanatory variables were categorized into fixed factors of age, race, comorbid conditions (diabetes mellitus, heart failure, and peripheral arterial disease) and potentially modifiable factors of dialysis dose, phosphorus level, hemoglobin level, equilibrated normalized protein catabolic rate (enPCR), body composition, body mass index, phase angle, and ratio of intracellular water volume to body weight (calculated from bioelectrical impedance).

Outcomes

Scores on tests of physical performance, health, and functioning.

Measurements

Physical performance measured using the Short Physical Performance Battery, self-reported physical health and functioning using the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). Body composition (body mass index and bioimpedance analysis) and laboratory data were obtained from affiliated dialysis providers.

Results

Relative to population norms, scores for all 3 physicality metrics were low. Poorer scores on all 3 metrics were associated with diabetes mellitus and peripheral arterial disease. Poorer scores on the SF-36 Physical Functioning subscale and Short Physical Performance Battery also were associated with age, lower ratio of intracellular water volume to body weight, and lower enPCR. Black race was associated with poorer scores on the Short Physical Performance Battery.

Limitations

This was a cross-sectional study of individuals agreeing to participate in the FHN study and may not be generalizable to the general dialysis population.

Conclusions

Hemodialysis patients show markedly impaired physical performance, health, and functioning relative to population norms. Although some factors associated with these impairments are not modifiable, others may change with improvement in nutritional status or body composition.

Objective

The aim of this study was to expand the research on psychiatric complications of end-stage renal disease (ESRD), as well as to examine the prevalence of a broad range of psychopathology in diabetic and non-diabetic hemodialysis (HD) patients.

Methods

One hundred nineteen HD patients were invited to enter the cross-sectional study. To assess quality of life, quality of sleep, mental status and depression and anxiety symptoms, the 36-item Short Form, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Mini-Mental State Examination and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, respectively, were used.

Results

The mean age of all patients was 56.9±16.1 years; 54 (45.4%) were female. In the diabetic patients group, 84.8% of the patients had low MCS scores, and 89.2% patients had low PCS scores; 73.9% were poor sleepers; 63.0% had cognitive decline; 62.0% patients were depressive symptoms; and 28.3%had symptoms of anxiety. When comparing the diabetic and non-diabetic patients, the diabetic patients had lower role-emotional, sleep duration, and sleep efficiency scores.

Conclusions

Incorporating a standard assessment and, eventually, treatment of psychopathologic symptoms into the care provided to diabetic and hemodialysis patients might improve quality of life and sleep, depressive symptoms and, reduce mortality risk.

Objectives

Comparisons of subjective and objective sleep measures have shown discrepancies between reported sleep and polysomnography (PSG) in non-drug dependent individuals with and without insomnia. Sleep may affect behavioral and physiologic aspects of drug abuse and dependence; patients in methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) for opioid dependence frequently report sleep problems. Whether subjective sleep reflects objective sleep in MMT patients is unknown. We undertook these analyses to establish the correlations among subjective and objective sleep measures in MMT patients.

Methods

We compared one week of daily sleep diaries, one night of home PSG, a questionnaire completed the morning after PSG, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Inventory (PSQI) as well as demographics and drug use measures in 62 MMT patients with disturbed sleep (PSQI score > 5).

Results

Subjective and objective sleep durations were similar in this sample; average sleep times for the diary, morning questionnaire, and PSG were 340, 323, and 332 minutes, respectively. Average diary sleep time, subjective ratings of feeling rested, and PSG sleep efficiency were correlated significantly with PSQI score. Age was inversely correlated with PSG sleep time. Participants whose urine toxicology showed benzodiazapine use reported significantly longer sleep times on the morning questionnaire.

Conclusions

Objective sleep measures confirm subjective measures in MMT patients with disturbed sleep. The high prevalence of sleep complaints in this population likely reflects pathology rather than sleep misperception. Both objective and subjective measures are useful in research and clinical settings for assessing sleep in opioid-dependent patients.

Background

An increase in left ventricular mass (LVM) is associated with mortality and cardiovascular morbidity in patients with end-stage renal disease.

Methods and Results

The Frequent Hemodialysis Network (FHN) Daily Trial randomized 245 patients to 12 months of 6 times per week daily in-center hemodialysis or conventional hemodialysis; the FHN Nocturnal Trial randomized 87 patients to 12 months of 6 times per week nocturnal hemodialysis or conventional hemodialysis. The main cardiac secondary outcome was change in LVM. In each trial, we examined whether several pre-defined baseline demographic or clinical factors, as well as change in volume removal, blood pressure or solute clearance influenced the effect of frequent hemodialysis on LVM. In the Daily Trial, frequent hemodialysis resulted in a significant reduction in LVM (13.1(95% CI 5.0 to 21.3) g, p=0.002), LVM index (6.9 (2.4 to 11.3) g/m2, p=0.003) and percent change in geometric mean of LVM (7.0 (1.0 to 12.6)%, p =0.02). Similar trends were noted in the Nocturnal Trial but did not reach statistical significance. In the Daily Trial, a more pronounced effect of frequent hemodialysis on LVM was evident among patients with left ventricular hypertrophy at baseline. Changes in LVM were associated with changes in blood pressure (conventional hemodialysis: R=0.28, P=0.01, daily hemodialysis: R=0.54, P<0.001) and were not significantly associated with changes in other parameters.

Conclusions

Frequent in-center hemodialysis reduces LVM. The benefit of frequent hemodialysis on LVM may be mediated by salutary effects on blood pressure.

Background

End-stage renal disease patients experience significant impairments in health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Testing various strategies to improve patient HRQOL in multicenter clinical trials, such as the Frequent Hemodialysis Network (FHN) trials is vitally important. Aims: Theaim of this paper is to describe the design and conduct of HRQOL and patient-reported outcomes (PRO) assessment in the FHN trials.

Methods

In the FHN trials, HRQOL was examined as a multidimensional concept, and the SF-36 RAND Physical Health Composite score was one of the co-primary outcomes. The instruments completed to assess HRQOL included the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form SF-36, Health Utilities Index 3, Sleep Problems Index, Beck Depression Inventory and feeling thermometer. These instruments have been shown to have high reliability, validity and responsiveness to change in the end-stage renal disease population. Additional items evaluating PRO including sexual function, time to recovery after dialysis and patients’ self-perceived burden to caregiver were also assessed. All questionnaires were administered by trained interviewers using computer-assisted telephone interviewing to ensure blinding and minimizing selection bias. Interim analysis reveals that these instruments can be used to collect a comprehensive set of HRQOL measures with minimal patient burden.

Conclusions

Accurate measurement of HRQOL and PRO can help us test whether hemodialysis interventions improve the health and well-being of this compromised patient population. We have shown that a comprehensive set of HRQOL measures can be centrally collected through telephone interviews in a blinded fashion, in a way that is well tolerated with minimum respondent burden.

Background

“Does the type of dialysis treatment make a difference to the quality of life (QoL) and mental health of renal patients in Athens?” The study investigated the differences in 84 in-center hemodialysis (HD) and 60 continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD/PD) patients.

Methods

Patient-reported assessments included: WHOQOL-BREF inventory of World Health Organization, General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) of Goldberg, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC).

Results

Results indicated that HD patients reported lower QoL in the environment and social relationships domains. More symptoms were also reported in the GHQ-28 subscales of anxiety/insomnia and severe depression. This measurement includes sleep problems and suicidal thoughts.

Conclusions

The findings confirm the differences between the two treatment modalities, indicating that HD patients have poorer QoL in several aspects of their environment and their social relationships. Both groups reported elevated depression. However, HD patients reported more suicidal thoughts and sleep problems compared to PD patients.

Keywords

Quality of life; Hemodialysis; Peritoneal dialysis; Renal disease

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether there is a difference in the allocation of types of dialysis to male and female patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). DESIGN: Descriptive study. SETTING: Canada. PATIENTS: All patients registered with the Canadian Organ Replacement Register (CORR) whose treatment began between 1981 and 1991. Data were obtained for 19,732 patients, of whom 18,010 had sufficiently complete data and were being treated with either peritoneal dialysis or hemodialysis 3 months after the diagnosis of ESRD. OUTCOME MEASURES: Proportions of patients receiving peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis according to sex. RESULTS: Significantly more male (58.1%) than female (50.8%) patients were receiving hemodialysis 3 months after diagnosis (p < 0.00001). Multivariate analysis to control for the possible confounding effects of age, province of treatment, diagnosis, concurrent illness and year of diagnosis did not explain the difference. CONCLUSIONS: In Canada from 1981 to 1991 male patients were more likely than female patients to receive hemodialysis for the treatment of ESRD. Additional research is needed to explain this finding.

Objective

To examine the independent and interactive effects of race and socioeconomic status (SES) on objective indices and self-reports of sleep.

Methods

The sleep of 187 adults (41% Black; mean age = 59.5 ± 7.2 years) was examined. Nine nights of actigraphy and two nights of inhome polysomnography (PSG) were used to assess average sleep duration, continuity, and architecture; self-report was used to assess sleep quality. Psychosocial factors, health behaviors, and environmental factors were also measured.

Results

Blacks had shorter sleep duration and lower sleep efficiency, as measured by actigraphy and PSG, and they spent less time proportionately in Stage 3 to 4 sleep, compared with others (p < .01). Lower SES was associated with longer actigraphy-measured latency, more wake after sleep onset as measured by PSG, and poorer sleep quality on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (p < .05).

Conclusions

Blacks and perhaps individuals in lower SES groups may be at risk for sleep disturbances and associated health consequences.

OBJECTIVE:

Poor sleep quality is one of the factors that adversely affects patient quality of life after kidney transplantation, and sleep disorders represent a significant cardiovascular risk factor. The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of changes in sleep quality and their outcomes in kidney transplant recipients and analyze the variables affecting sleep quality in the first years after renal transplantation.

METHODS:

Kidney transplant recipients were evaluated at two time points after a successful transplantation: between three and six months (Phase 1) and between 12 and 15 months (Phase 2). The following tools were used for assessment: the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; the quality of life questionnaire Short-Form-36; the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale; the Karnofsky scale; and assessments of social and demographic data. The prevalence of poor sleep was 36.7% in Phase 1 and 38.3% in Phase 2 of the study.

RESULTS:

There were no significant differences between patients with and without changes in sleep quality between the two phases. We found no changes in sleep patterns throughout the study. Both the physical and mental health scores worsened from Phase 1 to Phase 2.

CONCLUSION:

Sleep quality in kidney transplant recipients did not change during the first year after a successful renal transplantation.

Objective

Children with arthritis experience frequent pain, but the predictors of daily pain variations are largely unidentified. The goal of this study was to examine sleep quality as a predictor of pain in children with arthritis and to determine whether mood moderates this relationship.

Methods

In this prospective, longitudinal study children with polyarticular arthritis (n = 51, ages 8–16 years) tracked daily symptoms including sleep quality over 2 months. Self-reported daily pain intensity, as indicated on a visual analog scale, was used as the primary outcome measure in multilevel models.

Results

Poorer sleep quality was associated with higher next-day pain ratings (p < .01). Mood moderated this relationship such that as positive mood increased, the relationship between poor sleep quality and high pain weakened (p < .01). Daily pain did not predict nightly sleep quality (p > .05).

Conclusions

Sleep quality is an important predictor of pain in children with arthritis. These findings add to the growing body of literature on the utility of daily diaries for analyzing patterns of pain, sleep, and mood in children with chronic painful conditions.

BACKGROUND:

Although hemodialysis has a therapeutic effect on end stage renal disease (ESRD), these patients encounter many physical, psychological, and social stressful factors that lead to a decrease in their quality of life (QOL). One of the factors that are effective on increasing the QOL is the self-care ability. Review of literature demonstrated a few studies done on different aspects of QOL in ESRD patients under hemodialysis and their relationships with self-care ability in Iran. So, in this research besides determining the quality of life and its dimensions and self-care ability of hemodialysis patients, we evaluated their relationships with each other.

METHODS:

For this purpose, all hemodialysis patients who had inclusion criteria and were hospitalized in hemodialysis wards of Bonab, Maragheh, and Miandoab hospitals were selected and data were collected by interview using a questionnaire that included three parts, demographic factors, quality of life, and self-care ability.

RESULTS:

The results indicated that quality of life in 34%, and self-care ability in 78.3% of hemodialysis patients were desirable, and there was a direct and significant relationship between these two variables (p < 0.001, r = 0.4), as self-care ability explained 29% of variance of QOL. In quality of life subsectors, social dimension in 98.3% of patients was desirable, while physical dimension (80%) and psychological dimension (63.5%) in most patients were undesirable. Physical dimension was the most impressible dimension of quality of life in self-care ability whereas self-care ability explained 27% of total variance of physical dimension of QOL.

CONCLUSIONS:

Nearly two thirds of mentioned patients had no desirable QOL and regarding the positive relationship between QOL and self-care ability, it is suggested that health care planner and managers prepare the condition that through educating and reinforcing self-care ability in these patients improve the QOL in hemodialysis patients.

Background

Complaints of unrefreshing sleep are a prominent component of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS); yet, polysomnographic studies have not consistently documented sleep abnormalities in CFS patients. We conducted this study to determine whether alterations in objective sleep characteristics are associated with subjective measures of poor sleep quality in persons with CFS.

Methods

We examined the relationship between perceived sleep quality and polysomnographic measures of nighttime and daytime sleep in 35 people with CFS and 40 non-fatigued control subjects, identified from the general population of Wichita, Kansas and defined by empiric criteria. Perceived sleep quality and daytime sleepiness were assessed using clinical sleep questionnaires. Objective sleep characteristics were assessed by nocturnal polysomnography and daytime multiple sleep latency testing.

Results

Participants with CFS reported unrefreshing sleep and problems sleeping during the preceding month significantly more often than did non-fatigued controls. Participants with CFS also rated their quality of sleep during the overnight sleep study as significantly worse than did control subjects. Control subjects reported significantly longer sleep onset latency than latency to fall asleep as measured by PSG and MSLT. There were no significant differences in sleep pathology or architecture between subjects with CFS and control subjects.

Conclusion

People with CFS reported sleep problems significantly more often than control subjects. Yet, when measured these parameters and sleep architecture did not differ between the two subject groups. A unique finding requiring further study is that control, but not CFS subjects, significantly over reported sleep latency suggesting CFS subjects may have an increased appreciation of sleep behaviour that may contribute to their perception of sleep problems.

Background. Cardiac disease is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in children with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). This study aimed to report the frequency of cardiac disease diagnostic methods used in US pediatric maintenance hemodialysis patients.

Methods. A cross-sectional analysis of all US pediatric (ages 0.7–18 years, n = 656) maintenance hemodialysis patients was performed using data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ESRD Clinical Performance Measures Project. Clinical and laboratory information was collected in 2001. Results were analysed by age, sex, race, Hispanic ethnicity, dialysis duration, body mass index (BMI), primary ESRD cause and laboratory data.

Results. Ninety-two percent of the patients had a cardiovascular risk factor (63% hypertension, 38% anemia, 11% BMI > 94th percentile, 63% serum phosphorus > 5.5 mg/dL and 55% calcium–phosphorus product ≥ 55 mg2/dL2). A diagnosis of cardiac disease was reported in 24% (n = 155) of all patients: left ventricular hypertrophy/enlargement 17%, congestive heart failure/pulmonary edema 8%, cardiomyopathy 2% and decreased left ventricular function 2%. Thirty-one percent of patients were not tested. Of those tested, the diagnostic methods used were chest X-rays in 60%, echocardiograms in 35% and electrocardiograms in 33%; left ventricular hypertrophy/enlargement was diagnosed using echocardiogram (72%), chest X-ray (20%) and electrocardiogram (15%).

Conclusions. Although 92% of patients had cardiovascular risk factors, an echocardiography was performed in only one-third of the patients. Our study raises the question of why echocardiography, considered the gold standard for cardiac disease diagnosis, has been infrequently used in pediatric maintenance dialysis patients, a high-risk patient population.

The etiology of sleep problems in PD is not well understood, as they may arise from the pathology of the disease or from other disease related-factors such as motor dysfunction, dopaminergic medication, and mood disturbances. The aim of this study was to investigate factors associated with sleep including disease-related variables such as motor symptom severity, dose of medication and mood and disease subtypes. Thirty-five non-demented patients with PD were included. Sleep was measured using 24-hour wrist actigraphy over a seven-day period, during which time participants kept a sleep diary. Subjective sleep and arousal questionnaires included the Parkinson’s Disease Sleep Scale and Epworth Sleepiness Scale. Motor symptom severity and dopaminergic medication were significantly related to measures of sleep quality. Gender differences in sleep were found, with men having worse sleep quality and more excessive daytime sleepiness than women. We also found that actigraphy may serve as a useful tool for identifying individuals with possible REM behavior disorder, a sleep disorder that has important implications in early detection of PD.

The population of patients with ESRD in the United States is progressively increasing, with hemodialysis (HD) as the major mode of renal replacement therapy. The National Kidney Foundation's Dialysis Outcomes and Quality Initiative and the Fistula First Initiative recommend increasing the use of arteriovenous fistulae (AVF) in both incident and prevalent hemodialysis patients. One measure proposed is the use of pre-operative vascular mapping to assess the upper extremities for the presence of suitable vessels prior to the surgical creation of an AVF among both pre-dialysis CKD and ESRD patients on HD. This article aims to review the literature on vascular mapping, including the various techniques; their advantages and disadvantages; and whether they help to maximize the AVF creation rate as well as increase the use of AVF in the HD population.

Cardiovascular morbidity and mortality are common in end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. There is scarce data on carotid and bulb intima-media thickness (IMT-C and IMT-B) as an early marker of atherosclerosis and related factors in children on hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD). Since we did not have enough information about our patients, this study was carried on all ESRD children (hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis) in a referral center. Data was collected from 16 ESRD children under 18 years with seven patients on PD and nine on HD. Lab tests and biochemical parameters including serum von Willebrand factor (vWF), homocystein, apo lipoprotein A, apo lipoprotein B and quantitative CRP were measured in fasting patients just before initiating dialysis. IMT-C and IMT-B were measured by gray scale ultrasound using 7.5 MHZ probe. The mean of age was 12.76±4.5 years. The mean duration of dialysis in HD and PD patients were not significantly different; 11.88±3.25 months and 10.14±2.4 months respectively. Mean of systolic blood pressure in HD group was significantly higher than PD group, 135.55±25.54 mmHg versus 121.42±12.14 mmHg, P<0.05. Significant differences among all following parameters in ESRD patients, with normal laboratory values, were clarified: cholesterol, triglycerides, apo A, apo B, quantitative CRP, VWF, homocystein and IMT-C. However, we could not demonstrate any difference between IMT-B in case and control group. After adjusting for age, partial correlation showed significant correlation between IMT-C and following factors: N-PTH and serum alkaline phosphatase. Longitudinal studies with large size samples are needed to clarify the contributing factors with intima-media thickness in ESRD children.

Background.

Patients’ perception of pain during hemodialysis (HD) and at times between HD treatment and its association with survival have not been well studied in end-stage renal disease (ESRD). We evaluated the experience of pain during HD and at times when the patient was not receiving HD, and assessed possible associations of the perception of pain and sleep disturbance with patient survival.

Methods.

A total of 128 ESRD patients treated with HD completed questionnaires on psychosocial status, quality of life and sleep disorders. A modified McGill Pain questionnaire was used to assess the nature, location, frequency, intensity and duration of pain both during and at times between HD sessions. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was used to screen for sleep disturbances over a 30-day period.

Results.

Controlling for age, diabetes mellitus, serum albumin concentration and human immunodeficiency virus infection, there was a significant association between mortality and both frequency and intensity of pain while patients were not on HD. There was no association between survival and duration of pain while off HD or any of the pain parameters while patients were on HD. There was no association between survival and the presence of a sleep disorder.

Conclusions.

Pain perception while off HD may be of more importance to patients than pain during HD. The mechanisms underlying the association are unknown but may involve linkage of pain with severity of medical illness or the generation of a maladaptive cytokine response. Multicenter prospective studies of pain interventions using well-validated pain perception tools are needed to establish causal relationships. Interventions directed toward treating pain on non-HD days may improve ESRD patient survival.

Background

Sleep disturbances are commonly reported by patients with end- stage renal disease undergoing dialysis. The aim of this study was to assess sleep quality and quality of life and to examine the prevalence of sleep disorders in a group of uremic patients on maintenance dialysis.

Patients and methods

Enrolled were 92 patients on maintenance dialysis, to whom 5 different questionnaires were distributed, examining sleep characteristics and quality of life [Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), IRLS-Study group questionnaire, WHO-5 Well Being Index].

Results

Low sleep quality was reported by 42 patients (45.7%), and insomnia by 28.3% (n=26). Additionally, Restless Legs Syndrome was reported by 42.4% (n=39). On the contrary, only one patient had an ESS score, indicative of excessive daytime sleepiness. Finally, 32 patients (34.8%) had a score indicative of low quality of life in WHO-5 questionnaire.

Conclusions

A significant presence of sleep disorders among haemodialysis patients was recorded. Still, further studies using polysomnographic records are necessary to confirm these results.

Background

Hyperkalemia has been associated with higher mortality in long-term hemodialysis (HD) patients. There are little data concerning the relationship between dietary potassium intake and outcome.

Study design

Mortality-predictability of dietary potassium intake from reported food items, estimated from the Block Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) at the start of the cohort, were examined in a 5-year (2001–06) cohort of 224 HD patients in Southern California using Cox proportional hazards regression.

Setting and Participants

224 long-term hemodialysis patients from 8 DaVita dialysis clinics.

Predictors

Dietary potassium intake ranking using Block FFQ

Outcomes

5-year survival

Results

HD patients with higher potassium intakes had greater dietary energy, protein and phosphorus intakes and higher predialysis serum potassium and phosphorus. Greater dietary potassium intake was associated with significantly increased death hazard ratios (HR) in the unadjusted models and after incremental adjustments for case-mix, nutritional factors (including 3-month averaged predialysis serum creatinine, potassium and phosphorus, body mass index, normalized protein nitrogen appearance, and energy, protein and phosphorus intake) and inflammatory markers. The HR (95% confidence intervals) of death across the 3 higher quartiles of dietary potassium intake in the fully adjusted model (compared to the lowest quartile) were 1.4 (0.6–3.0), 2.2 (0.9–5.4) and 2.4 (1.1–7.5), respectively (p for trend: 0.03). Restricted cubic spline analyses confirmed the incremental mortality-predictability of higher potassium intake.

Limitations

FFQs may underestimate individual potassium intake and should be used to rank dietary intake across population.

Conclusions

Higher dietary potassium intake is associated with increased death risk in long-term HD patients, even after adjustments for serum potassium and dietary protein, energy and phosphorus intake and nutritional and inflammatory markers. The potential role of dietary potassium in the high mortality rate of HD patients warrants clinical trials.

BACKGROUND:

Pruritus is one of the commonest problems in patients with end-stage renal failure undergoing hemodialysis. Pruritus is an irritating symptom which can directly affect the life quality of patients with chronic renal failure. However, available treatments have failed to relieve the symptom and kidney transplant remains the definite treatment of the problem. A recently proposed treatment for pruritus is the use of complementary medicine. Thus, the aim of this research is to study the effect of aromatherapy on pruritus relief in hemodialysis patients.

METHODS:

The study is a pre- and post-clinical trial, carried out in dialysis centers of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2009. Sample was performed using convenient sampling method and the participants were selected from among the patient who received hemodialysis three times a week for 3-5 hours and had pruritus scores above 3. All the participants received seven minutes of hand massage in the non-fistulated hand with 3-5 ml of lavender, mint, and tea tree oils at 5% concentration for six sessions (two weeks). The data of the study were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics by SPSS software, version 16.

RESULTS:

Twenty patients with end-stage renal failure who had pruritus fulfilled the course of the study. Data analysis indicated that aromatherapy significantly relieved pruritus (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS:

Aromatherapy can significantly relieve pruritus in hemodialysis patients.

Background

Many nephrology observational studies use renal registries, which have well known limitations. The Canadian Kidney Disease Cohort Study (CKDCS) is a large prospective observational study of patients commencing hemodialysis in five Canadian centers. This study focuses on delineating potentially reversible determinants of adverse outcomes that occur in patients receiving dialysis for end-stage renal disease (ESRD).

Methods/Design

The CKDCS collects information on risk factors and outcomes, and stores specimens (blood, dialysate, hair and fingernails) at baseline and in long-term follow-up. Such specimens will permit measurements of biochemical markers, proteomic and genetic parameters (proteins and DNA) not measured in routine care. To avoid selection bias, all consenting incident hemodialysis patients at participating centers are enrolled, the large sample size (target of 1500 patients), large number of exposures, and high event rates will permit the exploration of multiple potential research questions.

Preliminary Results

Data on the baseline characteristics from the first 1074 subjects showed that the average age of patients was 62 (range; 50-73) years. The leading cause of ESRD was diabetic nephropathy (41.9%), and the majority of the patients were white (80.0%). Only 18.7% of the subjects received dialysis in a satellite unit, and over 80% lived within a 50 km radius of the nearest nephrologist's practice.

Discussion

The prospective design, detailed clinical information, and stored biological specimens provide a wealth of information with potential to greatly enhance our understanding of risk factors for adverse outcomes in dialysis patients. The scientific value of the stored patient tissue will grow as new genetic and biochemical markers are discovered in the future.