Sleep Disorders and Dementia Risk in Older Patients with Kidney Failure: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Key Points: Older patients with kidney failure who are newly diagnosed with sleep disorders are at higher risk of developing any type of dementia, vascular dementia, and other/mixed types of dementia. For older patients with kidney failure who are diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea, positive airway pressure therapy is an intervention that is associated with lower dementia risk.

Background: Community-dwelling older adults with sleep disorders are at higher risk of developing dementia. Greater than 50% of older patients with kidney failure experience sleep disorders, which may explain their high burden of dementia.

Methods: Among 216,158 patients (aged 66 years and older) with kidney failure (United States Renal Data System; 2008–2019), we estimated the risk of dementia (including subtypes) associated with sleep disorders using Cox proportional hazards models with propensity score weighting. We tested whether positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy was associated with reduced dementia risk among patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Results: 26.3% of patients were diagnosed with sleep disorders; these patients had a higher 5-year unadjusted cumulative incidence for any type of dementia (36.2% versus 32.3%; < 0.001), vascular dementia (4.4% versus 3.7%; < 0.001), and other/mixed dementia (29.3% versus 25.8%; < 0.001). Higher risk of any type of dementia was identified in patients with insomnia (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.42; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.34 to 1.51), sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBDs) (aHR, 1.20, 95% CI, 1.17 to 1.23), and other sleep disorders (aHR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.11 to 1.39). Higher vascular dementia risk was observed in patients with insomnia (aHR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.19 to 1.73) and SRBDs (aHR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.07 to 1.24). Patients with SRBDs (aHR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.15) were at higher risk of Alzheimer disease. Among patients with OSA, PAP therapy was associated with lower risk of any type of dementia (aHR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.76 to 0.90) and vascular dementia (aHR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.50 to 0.85).

Conclusions: Older patients with kidney failure and sleep disorders are at a higher risk of dementia. Sleep is an important modifiable factor that should be considered for targeted interventions to mitigate dementia risk in patients with kidney failure. For patients with OSA, PAP therapy is associated with lower dementia risk.