Poor Quality of Sleep is a Risk Factor for Increasing Fasting Blood Sugar and Glycated Hemoglobin in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Sleep disorders have an adverse effect on the physical and mental health of patients with diabetes. Low quality of sleep can also affect disease control and complications. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between sleep quality and fasting blood sugar (FBS), and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in patients with type 2 diabetes. In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 250 patients with type 2 diabetes referred to the diabetes clinic of Velayat Hospital, Qazvin, were included by convenience sampling. The data collection tool included the checklist of personal-social information and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Regression models, Spearman's correlation coefficient, and Mann-Whitney U test were used for data analysis. The mean and standard deviation of FBS was 207.72±75.40, and HbA1c was 8.58±1.92. Among the participants, 175 patients (70%) had poor sleep quality. Based on Spearman's correlation, there was a direct and significant relationship between the FBS (r=0.487, P<0.001) and HbA1c (r=0.465, P<0.001) with the total score of sleep quality. According to the logistic regression model, poor sleep quality increases the chance of poor blood sugar control by 3.17 times. The present findings showed a direct relationship between poor sleep quality and poor diabetes control. Therefore, ensuring sleep hygiene should be considered an important part of the treatment and care of patients with type 2 diabetes for better management of their blood sugar.