RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: 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 (with sleep disorder 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 and 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 (with male to female ratio being 71/119s) was 56.31 ± 7.37 years. BMI of more than 25 kg/m2was 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 which included level of education, occupation, HbA1 C, FBS, 2-hour post prandial glucose, systolic and diastolic blood pressure. CONCLUSION: Sleep disorders are 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.
