A better quality of sleep improves the metabolic control of patients with diabetes, according to a study by the CAP de Balaguer
The Biology magazine has published the study, led by the nurse Cristina García Serrano, who highlights the key role of nursing professionals in training patients about sleep habits.
A study led by Cristina García Serrano, a specialist in family and community nursing at CAP Balaguer and a researcher at the GRETAP research group at IDIAPJGol, has shown that patients with prediabetes and diabetes who receive education from nursing professionals nurses on sleep hygiene sleep more and improve their metabolic control. The study has been published by the journal Biology under the title Improving daytime and nighttime circadian contrast through sleep education in patients with prediabetes and diabetes.
Several previous studies had described the existence of a relationship between sleep disorders and abnormal glucose metabolism, so improving the sleep habits of patients with type 2 diabetes should improve their metabolism. To test this hypothesis, the Balaguer CAP promoted a sleep hygiene education program for nursing professionals, aimed at 69 adult patients with prediabetes and diabetes. After three months of follow-up and analytic studies, the researchers found significant improvements in sleep quality and diabetes control in the intervention group, compared to the control group (who had not received such education).
To assess sleep quality, patients took the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the most widely used sleep questionnaire in adults. It consists of 24 questions and the total score indicates the quality of the general sleep of the person evaluated. In the case of the intervention group, the PSQI showed an increase in the duration and quality of sleep, while the analytics showed a decrease in glucose and hemoglobin levels. Specifically, 84.2% of the participants in the intervention group certified changes in their sleep habits, increasing sleep duration by 1.5 hours and an average of 3 points in the PSQI quality test.
"The study did not promote any special diet or any other treatment or therapy other than intervention in sleep habits," explained Cristina Garcia Serrano, principal investigator. "Nursing intervention from primary care plays a decisive role in improving the health of people with chronic diseases such as diabetes", she concluded.
The study, in which Jesús Pujol, Lidia Aran, Joaquim Sol, Sonia Ortiz, Eva Artigues and Marta Ortega have also participated, has been published this June in the scientific journal Biology.
