Subjective sleep complaints and their effect on glycaemic control in adult type 2 diabetics

Abstract

There is emerging evidence that suggest that sleep disorders are a novel risk factor for diabetes and poor glycaemic control but no data exists for South African populations Objectives: To describe the prevalence of subjective sleep complaints in adult type 2 diabetics in Chris Hani Baragwanath academic hospital in Soweto and to examine the association between subjective sleep complaints and glycaemic control. Patients and methods: A cross sectional study, with 150 adult participants attending a diabetic clinic at Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital. A variety of short validated sleep questionnaires including insomnia severity index (ISI) were used. Results: More patients (46%) in the group with poor glycaemic control had insomnia compared to only 21.6% in the controlled group (p = 0.014). The uncontrolled group had a higher Insomnia (ISI) score of 14 compared to the controlled group with (score of 8) (p = 0.008). The prevalence of other sleep disorders was high but not significantly related to poor glycaemic control. Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of sleep disorders in diabetics and insomnia is significantly associated with poor glycaemic control