Impact of Sleep Patterns on Glycemic Control in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Background: Lack of sleep is harmful to your mental and physical health. Multiple studies have shown that insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolic regulation are both negatively impacted by inadequate sleep. Objectives: To determine whether there is a correlation between the amount and quality of sleep and blood sugar levels in those who suffer from type 2 diabetes mellitus. Materials and Methods: At the National Centre for Diabetes in Baghdad, 224 people with type 2 diabetes who had been on anti-diabetic medication for at least a year participated in a 13-month cross-sectional study from February 2024 to February 2025. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was used to evaluate the prior month's sleep length and quality. Other information gathered included demographics, lifestyle variables, co-morbidities, length of diabetes, treatment compliance, and HbA1c levels. Results: Most patients (80.8%) had poor sleep quality, and 68.3% had poorly managed type 2 diabetes mellitus. The results showed that low quality sleep (P-value = 0.001) and inadequate total nighttime sleep (P-value = 0.002) were two independent risk factors for inadequate glycemic management. In addition, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index showed a somewhat positive connection with HbA1c levels, suggesting that greater levels of HbA1c were linked to worse sleep quality. However, there was a small but statistically significant negative connection between HbA1c levels and the amount of time people slept (P-value = 0.001 and 0.002, respectively), indicating that less sleep is associated with worse glycemic management. Conclusion: There is a substantial correlation between insufficient glycemic control and poor sleep quality/length, both of which have a major influence on the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus.