Investigating the Effect of Cold Water Bags on the Severity of Restless Leg Syndrome and Sleep Quality in Hemodialysis Patients

Restless legs syndrome is a neurological disorder in hemodialysis patients that causes disturbance and disability in rest, discomfort, sleep disturbance, fatigue, and stress.

This study was done to evaluate the effect of cold water bags on the severity of restless leg syndrome and sleep quality in hemodialysis patients.

This is a quasi-experimental study (before and after) performed on patients referring to three hospitals in Yazd province. In this study, 40 patients with restless legs syndrome were selected from all patients who were referred to the hemodialysis ward by simple random sampling. The samples completed the Restless Legs Syndrome Symptoms Severity Questionnaire before and after using the cold water bag. Data were analyzed by SPSS 20 software and descriptive statistics and paired t-test at the significance level of < 0.05.

This study showed a significant difference between the mean score of restless leg syndrome and sleep quality before and after the interventions (P = 0.000). Furthermore, the mean scores of restless leg syndrome and sleep quality were different between the two intervention groups and statistically significant (P = 0.000).

Based on the results, using a water bag reduces the symptoms of restless leg syndrome. Therefore, it is suggested that cold water bags should be used as an effective, safe, low-cost method.