Association between Sleep Quality and Painless Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy Assessed by Current Perception Threshold in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

ABSTRACT

BackgroundIt is known that the painful sensation of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) results in sleep problems in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, it is not known that the painless DPN also is associated with poor sleep quality in T2DM. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the association between painless DPN and poor sleep quality in T2DM.MethodsA total of 146 patients of T2DM who do not have any painful symptoms of DPN were recruited into the study. Among the patients, painless DPN was diagnosed by using the current perception threshold test. Sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index questionnaire.ResultsThe percentage of painless DPN was significantly higher in the poor sleep quality group than the good sleep quality group (70.0% vs. 35.5%, PP=0.009; 34.3% vs. 18.4%, P=0.029; 40.0% vs. 19.7%, P=0.007, respectively). The association of painless DPN and poor sleep quality remained significant after adjustment for significant covariates (odds ratio, 3.825; 95% confidence interval, 1.674 to 8.742; PConclusionThe current study showed that painless DPN was associated with poor sleep quality. Future studies are required to clarify the pathophysiologic causal relationship between painless DPN and sleep quality.