Factors Related to Sleep Quality in Patients Receiving Peritoneal Dialysis

Purpose: Sleeping is an essential necessity in human life, but disordered sleep has been reported in patients receiving peritoneal dialysis (PD). However, there have been few investigations into the sleep quality of patients receiving PD. The aim of this study was to investigate factors related to the sleep quality of patients receiving PD. e have been few investigations into the sleep quality of patients receiving PD.  

Methods: The study adopted a correlational research design. Three questionnaires, the symptom distress scale, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and survey of basic information, were translated into Chinese and were completed by the participants with the assistance of nurses during their visits to dialysis centers. The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS 20.0 software program. T-test, one-way ANOVA and stepwise regression were used to analyze the data. 

Results: The average score for sleep quality was 10.5 ± 5.69, with patients who took hypnotic medication scoring the lowest (M = 1.07) and those who were in the sleep latency phase scoring the highest (M = 1.80). The study found that patients who used extraneal dialysate or had hypertension, diabetes, lower functional status, or severe symptom distress had worse sleep quality. The stepwise regression analysis results showed that symptom distress (SD) had a statistically significant effect on overall sleep quality (p<0.05), with SD explaining 33.0% of the variance in overall sleep quality. -way ANOVA and stepwise regression were used to analyze the data. 

Conclusion: PD is a long-term treatment, and dialysis patient care should be concerned not only with extending a patient’s life but also with assisting the patient to achieve a better quality of life. SD may decrease a patient’s sleep quality and have negative effects on a patient’s emotional status. In the present study, the patients with poor physical conditions were found to generally be more susceptible to having a sleep disorder. In addition, the sleep quality of all the patients as found to affect their clinical prognosis, with patients with poor sleep quality generally exhibiting higher mortality. Therefore, nurses should assist in the clinical care of patients who receive PD as early as possible, helping patients to overcome common medical problems to enhance their sleep quality.