An investigation of the associations among sleep duration and quality, body mass index and insulin resistance in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus patients

Abstract

Objectives: To examine direct and indirect associations of sleep duration and quality with insulin resistance, considering body mass index (BMI) as a potential mediator in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Methods: Cross-sectional data from patients enrolled in the Early Activity in Diabetes study. We studied 522 newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus patients, 65.9% male, mean age 63.5 ± 10.1 years. Of the total sample 53% had a BMI of ⩾30 kg/m2. Participants completed a 7-day sleep diary and sleep questionnaire. Average sleep duration (minutes), average nap duration (minutes) and average number of night awakenings were derived. Objective measures of height and body weight were obtained for the BMI calculation (kg/m2). Insulin resistance was obtained using the homeostatic model assessment – insulin resistance (HOMA2-IR) standardized technique. Results: Average number of night awakenings was positively correlated with BMI ( r= 0.22, p < 0.001) and negatively associated with logged HOMA2-IR ( r= -0.16, p = 0.04). Path analysis demonstrated night awakenings were directly associated with BMI and indirectly associated with insulin resistance, whilst considering BMI as a potential mediator ( p < 0.05). Sleep duration was not associated with BMI or insulin resistance ( p > 0.05). Conclusions: Sleep quality, not sleep duration, plays an important role in insulin resistance in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. BMI may mediate the relationship between indicators of sleep quality and insulin resistance. There is a need to examine the impact of improving sleep quality on obesity and insulin resistance in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.