The potential impact of habitual sleep quality on glycaemic control and inflammation: A study on geriatric patients recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)

Hussain, Nadia, Ibrahim Al Haddad, Amal Hussain, Abbass, Saima, & Alfahl, Zina. (2025). The potential impact of habitual sleep quality on glycaemic control and inflammation: A study on geriatric patients recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Sleep Medicine: X, 9, 100139. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleepx.2025.100139

Abstract

Sleep quality and its relationship with glycaemic control is of particular interest in the context of geriatric diabetes. We aimed to investigate the potential impact of habitual sleep quality on glycaemic control status among geriatric patients recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A total of 193 geriatric patients recently diagnosed with T2DM in a tertiary-care hospital were selected. A developed questionnaire was used to assess various aspects of sleep quality. Glycaemic control was evaluated through fasting blood glucose levels, HbA1c measurements and number of admissions to the hospital for hypoglycaemic or hyperglycaemic episodes. Patients were divided into Poor Sleep Quality (PSQ, n = 132) and Adequate Sleep Quality (ASQ, n = 61) groups. The PSQ group exhibited significantly worse sleep outcomes, including longer sleep latency (35 ± 9.2 min vs. 15 ± 6.4 min), shorter sleep duration (5 h 42 min vs. 7 h 18 min) and greater use of sleep medications (72 % vs. 22 %). Glycaemic control, measured by HbA1c, was worse in the PSQ group (8.7 ± 1.9 vs. 7.2 ± 1.2; p < 0.01), which also had more frequent severe hypoglycaemic (35 ± 1.4 vs. 8 ± 2.1; p = 0.02) and ketoacidotic episodes (72 ± 1.0 vs. 5 ± 1.1; p = 0.01). These findings suggest an association between poor sleep quality and poorer glycaemic control, with more frequent diabetes-related complications, highlighting the need for further research to explore potential causal relationships and targeted interventions in this population.

Funder

Shifa Hospital Research Council

Publisher

Elsevier

Rights

Attribution 4.0 International

cb

Collections

Medicine (Scholarly Articles)