Thematic Daily Sleep Routine Analysis of Adults Not in Employment Living with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

BACKGROUND: Day-to-day variations in sleep timing have been associated with poorer glycemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus, although the factors that influence this sleep timing variability are poorly understood. METHODS: Daily routines of sleep in a sample of seventeen adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus who were either retired or not currently working were examined qualitatively through the application of semi-structured interviews and a thematic analysis of the resulting transcripts. RESULTS: Four themes were identified: "Consistent Sleeping Patterns", "Fluctuating Sleep Timing", "Night-Time Disruptions" and "Lasting Effort Needed with Type Two Diabetes Mellitus". The subthemes reflected that many participants had consistent sleep schedules across the seven-day week, but that a desire to maintain a sense of normality, household routines, television schedules and socializing were associated with different sleep timing on weekends. Active disease monitoring and timed medication taking were not identified as important factors in shaping sleep timing. Nocturia, stress and rumination were identified as important factors linked to disrupted sleep. Sleep was not reported as an issue discussed during routine clinical care. CONCLUSION: Sleep timing in participants appears to be driven by interacting psychosocial and physiological factors, although active disease management does not emerge as a major influence on sleep schedules.

Differences in Sleep Offset Timing between Weekdays and Weekends in 79,161 Adult Participants in the UK Biobank.

Variability in the timing of daily sleep is increasingly recognized as an important factor in sleep and general physical health. One potential driver of such daily variations in sleep timing is different work and social obligations during the "working week" and weekends. To investigate the nature of weekday/weekend differences in the timing of sleep offset, we examined actigraphy records of 79,161 adult participants in the UK Biobank who wore an actiwatch for 1 week. The time of sleep offset was found to be on average 36 min later on weekends than on weekdays, and when this difference was expressed as an absolute value (i.e., irrespective of sleep offset being either later or earlier on weekends), it was 63 min. Younger age, more socioeconomic disadvantage, currently being in employment, being a smoker, being male, being of non-white ethnicity and later chronotype were associated with greater differences in sleep offset between weekdays and weekend days. Greater differences in sleep offset timing were associated with age-independent small differences in cardiometabolic health indicators of BMI and diastolic blood pressure, but not HbA1c or systolic blood pressure. In a subset of participants with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, weekday/weekend sleep offset differences were associated weakly with BMI, systolic blood pressure and physical activity. Overall, this study demonstrates potentially substantive differences in sleep offset timings between weekdays and weekends in a large sample of UK adults, and that such differences may have public health implications.

An exploratory study of associations between sleep timing variability and cardiometabolic health in middle-aged adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Sleep is increasingly recognised as an important risk factor for metabolic disease, and as an important influence on severity in established metabolic disease. Recent evidence suggests that sleep timing variability (the day-to-day fluctuations of sleep timing) may be an important factor in metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus. In the current study, we explore the associations between measures of sleep timing variability and cardiometabolic measures in a group of healthy middle-aged adults with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus. Healthy controls (N = 27) and adults with well-controlled uncomplicated type 2 diabetes mellitus (N = 30) wore actiwatches for an average of 9 days for objective assessment of sleep timing parameters, and also underwent a detailed clinical assessment. We found greater self-reported social jetlag in the diabetes group, but no groupwise differences in measures of sleep timing variability. In the diabetes patients, HbA1c levels were inversely correlated with variability in the time of sleep onset and midsleep, and with sleep duration. HOMA-IR did not correlate with any sleep timing variability measure, nor were there associations between sleep timing variability and other metabolic biomarkers (cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides and uric acid). Systolic blood pressure was inversely correlated with actigraphically defined social jetlag in both the control and diabetes groups. The results of this study indicate associations between sleep timing variability and HbA1c, but the direction of these relationships is at variance with some other recent reports. Our results indicate a need for future hypothesis-testing studies to further explore the impact of sleep timing variance on metabolic health.

Greater social jetlag associates with higher HbA1c in adults with type 2 diabetes: a cross sectional study.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Later chronotype has been associated with poorer glycemic control in type 2 diabetes. It is unclear whether this is a direct relationship, or if personality factors or social jetlag ([SJL], ie, chronic circadian misalignment reflecting the discrepancy between the entrained phase of the circadian clock and socially-determined behavioural cycles) play a role. This study aimed to determine the relationships among chronotype, SJL, personality factors and glycemic control in type 2 diabetes, independently of sleep disturbances and daily caloric distribution. METHODS: In sum, 252 type 2 diabetes patients attending an annual review outpatients' clinic completed questionnaires, including the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire to assess chronotype and SJL, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality index (PSQI), the Big Five Personality Inventory and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Chart review provided information on diabetes duration, Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), body mass index (BMI) and other clinical variables. Caloric intake was assessed via 24-h dietary recall. RESULTS: Hierarchical linear regression revealed that SJL, but not chronotype or personality factors, was a significant predictor of HbA1c levels (ß = 0.16, p < 0.05). There was a significant relationship between later chronotype and HbA1c levels, but only in patients who had more than 90 min SJL (r = 0.51, p = 0.002). Younger age was associated with a higher HbA1c (r = -0.23, p < 0.001), and this effect was partially mediated through SJL (Pm = 0.22). CONCLUSIONS: We identify SJL as a novel factor that may impact on glycemic control in type 2 diabetes. Further study is needed to determine whether interventions aimed at reducing SJL may lead to improvements in glycemic control.

Clocks in the clinic: circadian rhythms in health and disease.

Circadian rhythms are endogenously generated recurring patterns of around 24 hours with well-established roles in physiology and behaviour. These circadian clocks are important in both the aetiology and treatment of various psychiatric and metabolic diseases. To maintain physiological homeostasis and optimal functioning, living life synchronised to these clocks is desirable; modern society, however, promotes a '24/7' lifestyle where activity often occurs during the body's 'biological night', resulting in mistimed sleep and circadian misalignment. This circadian desynchrony can increase the risk of disease and can also influence treatment response. Clinicians should be aware of the influence that circadian desynchrony can have on health and disease, in order to potentially develop new therapeutic strategies and to incorporate chronotherapeutics into current treatment strategies to enhance their utility.