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Sleep quality, duration influence gestational diabetes risk
Risk for developing gestational diabetes during pregnancy may be increased with poor sleep quality and short sleep duration, according to results from a Singapore-based study.
“Our results raise the possibility that good sleep habits could reduce the likelihood of developing hyperglycemia and [gestational diabetes],” Joshua J. Gooley, PhD, associate professor of the neuroscience and behavioral disorders program at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, said in a press release. “With the recently launched ‘War on Diabetes’ in Singapore, the importance of healthy sleep habits should be emphasized to doctors and patients, in addition to initiatives that are geared toward improving other lifestyle factors, such as diet and exercise.”
Gooley and colleagues evaluated data from the GUSTO mother-offspring cohort study on 686 Asian women with a singleton pregnancy who attended a clinic visit at 26 to 28 weeks’ gestation to determine the influence of maternal sleep quality and nocturnal sleep duration on the risk for gestational diabetes.
The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was used to assess self-reported sleep quality and sleep duration. A 75-g oral glucose tolerance test administered after an overnight fast was used to diagnose gestational diabetes.
Overall, 43.1% of participants reported poor sleep quality and 11.2% reported sleeping less than 6 hours per night; 19.1% developed gestational diabetes.
Sleep quality was poorer in participants with gestational diabetes compared with those without gestational diabetes, but scores on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index did not reach statistical significance. Compared with participants without gestational diabetes, participants with gestational diabetes rated their sleep quality as worse (P = .045).
Participants with better sleep quality had a lower frequency of gestational diabetes (16.9%) compared with those with poor sleep quality (22%).
Participants who slept less than 6 hours per night had a higher frequency of gestational diabetes (27.3%) compared with participants who slept 7 to 7.99 hours per night (16.8%). Researchers observed a linear decrease in fasting glucose levels with increasing sleep duration (P = .21); however, after adjustment for covariates, sleep duration was not tied to fasting glucose levels or 2-hour OGTT glucose levels in multivariable linear regression models.
The risk for gestational diabetes was higher among participants with poor sleep quality compared with those with better sleep quality after adjustment for ethnicity, maternal age, education, BMI, previous history of gestational diabetes and anxiety scores (adjusted OR = 1.75; 95% CI, 1.11-2.76). Participants who slept less than 6 hours per night also had a higher risk for gestational diabetes compared with participants who slept longer than 6 hours per night after adjustment for covariates (adjusted OR = 1.96; 95% CI, 1.05-3.66).
“We found that poor sleep quality and [less than] 6 hours of sleep per night during pregnancy were associated with increased risk of [gestational diabetes] in a multi-ethnic Asian population,” the researchers wrote. “Future studies should examine the pathways by which sleep disturbances in pregnancy contribute to hyperglycemia and other adverse maternal health outcomes. Early screening and interventions for sleep problems in pregnancy could potentially reduce the risk of developing maternal hyperglycemia and [gestational diabetes]. The importance of healthy sleep habits and obtaining sufficient sleep should also be emphasized by prenatal care providers, with the aim of improving pregnancy outcomes.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosure: Gooley reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
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