The evaluation of dream anxiety and sleep quality in hemodialysis patients

Sleep problems are prevalent in hemodialysis patients. Although several studies have investigated the sleep quality and its causes in hemodialysis patients, there is no report available on dream anxiety in hemodialysis patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sleep quality and dream anxiety in hemodialysis patients. We also investigated related factors which influence sleep quality and dream anxiety. Fifty-Two hemodialysis patients and 38 healthy individuals were included in the present study. The sleep quality and dream anxiety were assessed with Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Van Dream Anxiety Scale (VDAS); respectively. The majority of hemodialysis patients had poor sleep quality (%92.3) in our study. Hemodialysis patients had significantly longer sleep latency, higher sleep disturbances and daytime dysfunction than healthy individuals. Hemodialysis patients had higher global dream anxiety scores than healthy individuals. There was a negative relationship between hemoglobin levels and Global VDAS score. Global PSQI score was negative correlated with serum creatinine and phosphorus levels, while positive correlated with C-reactive protein levels. Our results suggest that hemodialysis patients had poor sleep quality, higher sleep disturbances and daytime dysfunction compared with healthy subjects. Moreover, we demonstrated that dream anxiety was significantly higher in hemodialysis patients.