Frequency of sleep disorder and restless legs syndrome in patients referring to hemodialysis units in university hospitals in Tehran in 2003

More than 9,000 renal patients are under hemodialysis treatment in Iran, indicating the importance of issues relating to mental health and quality of life in these patients. Sleep disorder is quite common among patients with chronic renal failure, and the restless legs syndrome is one of the most common sleep problems in these patients group. This study aims at measuring the commonality of sleep disorder caused by the restless legs syndrome in hemodialysis patients. It was a cross sectional study. The study population consisted of 514 hemodialysis patients who met our inclusion criteria. A questionnaire was used for data collection. Totally, 99.4% of the studied subjects had sleep disorder, of whom, 61.5% suffered from concomitant restless legs syndrome. Sleep disorder is common among hemodialysis patients and may be aggravated by the restless legs syndrome.