, according to a study of sleep duration and quality in young diabetes patients.
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“This study adds to the growing body of literature that supports the cascading effects of sleep on multiple aspects of diabetes-related outcomes,” wrote lead author Sara S. Frye, PhD, of the University of Arizona, Tucson, and her coauthors, adding that the results “highlight the importance of assessing sleep in this population that appears to be at high risk for insufficient sleep duration.” The study was published in Sleep Medicine.
Dr. Frye and her colleagues recruited 111 children between the ages of 10 and 16 with type 1 diabetes mellitus to participate in their Glucose Regulation and Neurobehavioral Effects of Sleep (GRANES) study. The participants wore wrist actigraphs for an average of 5.5 nights to objectively measure sleep, including duration, quality, timing, and consistency. They completed self-reported sleep diaries each morning of the study. Glycemic control and diabetes management were assessed via hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels and self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) frequency, which were obtained via medical records. The participants and their parents also completed the Diabetes Management Scale.
Based on actigraphy data, the average total sleep time was 7.45 hours (standard deviation, 0.74), below the recommended duration of 9 hours for youths in this age group. All but one participant was recorded as sleeping less than the recommended amount. Average HbA1c of 9.11% (SD, 1.95) indicated poor diabetic control, and the average SMBG frequency was 4.90 (SD, 2.71) with a range of 1-14 checks per day. Per mediation analysis, for every additional hour of sleep, HbA1c was reduced by 0.33% and SMBG frequency went up by 0.88. In addition, SMBG frequency was related to HbA1c, supporting previous findings that “self-management behaviors play a critical role in maintaining diabetes control.”
The coauthors acknowledged the limitations of their study, including actigraphy data being logged over a 1-week period instead of the recommended 2 weeks. They also relied on medical records to determine HbA1c and SMBG rather than collecting that information along with the actigraphy data. However, they did note that HbA1c measures glucose levels over a 3-month period, which would have covered their participation in the study.
The study was supported by American Diabetes Association and cosponsored by the Order of the Amaranth Diabetes Foundation. The authors reported no conflicts of interest.
SOURCE: Frye SS et al. Sleep Med. 2019 Feb 16. doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2019.01.043.