Abstract
The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the available evidence on sleep disorders in patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) undergoing hemodialysis (HD). [Subjects and Methods] Two independent reviewers performed a computer-assisted search of the MEDLINE, SciELO, LILACS, and BIREME Virtual Health Library medical databases from their inception to November 2015. [Results] One thousand one hundred twenty-six articles were found that met the inclusion criteria. Articles were excluded if they were not in English, the patients did not undergo HD, or the studies were not cross-sectional or clinical trials. After reading the full text, a further 300 studies were excluded because they did not use polysomnography. The remaining 18 studies with ESRD patients undergoing HD comprised 8 clinical trials and 10 cross-sectional studies. This systematic review followed the criteria outlined by the PRISMA declaration. [Conclusion] In this systematic review, a high prevalence of sleep disorders was observed in ESRD, including sleep-disordered breathing. This knowledge may enable health professionals to devise new strategies for the diagnosis and treatment of these patients, in order to reduce morbidity and mortality and improve their quality of life.