Objectives:
Diabetes is the most common metabolic disease in primary health care. The prevalence and
severity of diabetes can be influenced through lifestyle modification. This study was aimed to identify the
prevalence of sleep disorders as a modifiable lifestyle factor among diabetic patients.
Materials and Methods:
This cross‐sectional study was conducted on 190 patients with type 2 diabetes
mellitus who referred to the Internal Medicine Clinic of the Ghaem Hospital, Mashhad, Iran from 2016 to
2017. A demographic questionnaire and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Assessment questionnaire (sleep
disorder was defined as scores higher than 5) was filled for each subject. Blood tests including haemoglobin
A1 C (Hb A1C), fasting blood sugar (FBS) and 2 hour post prandial glucose as well as the assessment of blood
pressure, body mass index (BMI) were performed for all patients. Data were analysed using the statistical
package for social sciences (SPSS) version 16.
Results:
Age of the patients (male to female ratio was 71/119s) was 56.31 ± 7.37 years. BMI more than 25
kg/m2
was observed in 145 (76.3%) of patients . Mean Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Assessment score was 7.48 ±
4.11. Fifty‐one (26.8%) patients were good sleepers and 139 (73.2%) were poor sleepers. There was a
significant relationship between sleep disorder and age (p=0.019) and female gender (p=0.017) but no other
variables including level of education, occupation, HbA1 C, FBS, 2 hour post prandial glucose, systolic and
diastolic blood pressure.
Discussion:
Sleep disorders were common among type 2 diabetic patients especially women. It is
recommended that sleep disorders should be screened in diabetic patients. Treatment and prevention of
sleep disorders through sleep hygiene education including recommendation to have normal nocturnal sleep
should be focused by practitioners in type 2 diabetic patients especially women. Appropriate measures
should be taken to manage sleep disorders by weight control in this population.
The Incremental Burden of Obesity and sleep Disorders among Individuals with Type 2 diabetes mellitus
