A STUDY ON THE ASSESSMENT OF PAIN AND SLEEP IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING HEMODIALYSIS AND PERITONEAL DIALYSIS

Background: Perception of pain and sleep disturbances are more prevalent in patients undergoing Dialysis. Assessing and determining the pain intensity and sleep disturbances help to establish the need for treatment, which is an important part of therapeutic intervention as they may affect the patient’s Quality of life (QOL). This study was aimed to assess pain intensity and sleep disturbances in patients undergoing Hemodialysis (HD) and Peritoneal Dialysis (PD). Methodology: This cross-sectional and observational study was conducted in the Department of Nephrology. 89 patients (49 HD and 40 PD) were enrolled into the study that were undergoing hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis and were assessed for the pain intensity and sleep disturbances using McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) respectively. Results: 67.34% of HD patients and 77.5% of PD patients experienced moderate to severe chronic pain. Female patients aged above 40 years and elderly patients experienced more pain compared to other groups and pain was also observed increasing with the duration of dialysis. 57.14% of HD patients and 67.5% of PD patients were poor sleepers. Males experienced poor sleep compared to females. Conclusion: Pain and sleep disorders are significant problems for the majority of dialysis patients and are not often assessed and managed. Increasing awareness of the significance and treatability of pain and sleep disturbances may provide the opportunity to improve dialysis patient’s quality of life. It is necessary that the healthcare providers regularly enquire about pain symptoms and sleep disturbances and treat them effectively.