Effects of sleep disorders and sedative–hypnotic medications on health-related quality of life in dialysis patients

Purpose Sleep disorders are very common among dialysis patients, leading patients to frequently take sedative–hypnotic medications; however, the effects of sleep disorders and the use of such drugs on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) have rarely been investigated. Methods The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Short Form-12 were used to assess sleep quality and patient health situations, respectively. Logistic regression was employed to identify factors associated with deterioration of the mental component summary (MCS) score and the physical component summary (PCS) score. Results A total of 461 patients undergoing dialysis were recruited. The prevalence of sleep disorders was 67.0%. Among the study population, 30.4% of patients took sedative–hypnotic medications to improve their sleep quality. Both the PCS (81.25 vs. 71.88, p < 0.001) and MCS scores (78.63 vs. 74.63, p < 0.001), which indicate HRQOL, were decreased among patients with sleep disorders compared with good sleepers. However, neither the PCS nor MCS scores showed any significant difference between patients with sleep disorders who used sedative–hypnotic medications and those who did not. Conclusion Sleep disorders were closely associated with deterioration of both mental HRQOL and physical HRQOL. Sedative–hypnotic medication use did not affect HRQOL among patients with sleep disorders undergoing dialysis.