Purpose of Review
To highlight recent findings from studies of sleep in type 1 diabetes (T1D), with a focus on the role of sleep in self-management, the cognitive and psychosocial outcomes related to sleep disturbances, and factors associated with sleep disturbances specific to T1D.
Recent Findings
People with T1D experience higher rates of sleep disturbances than people without diabetes, and these disturbances have negative implications for glycemic control and diabetes management, as well as psychosocial and cognitive outcomes. Inconsistent sleep timing (bedtime and wake time) has emerged as a potential target for interventions, as inconsistent sleep has been linked with poorer glycemic control and adherence to treatment. Sleep-promoting interventions and new diabetes technology have the potential to improve sleep in people with T1D.
Summary
Sleep is increasingly considered a critical factor in diabetes management, but more multi-method and longitudinal research is needed. We emphasize the importance of sufficient and consistent sleep for people with T1D, and the need for providers to routinely assess sleep among patients with T1D.
This study is the first to examine the perceptions of barriers and facilitators to obtaining sufficient sleep in adolescents with T1D and their caregivers. Results have the potential to inform providers' recommendations regarding sleep, including possible interventions to promote sleep in this high-risk population.
Adherence to diabetes management is a challenge for adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Positive psychology interventions have improved adherence to treatment recommendations in adults with chronic health conditions but have not been widely tested in pediatric populations. We hypothesized that higher engagement with a text-messaging intervention to promote positive affect would increase the effects on diabetes management among adolescents with T1D. Adolescents with T1D (n = 48) and their caregivers were randomized to either an attention control condition or a novel positive psychology intervention delivered through personalized automated text messaging. We examined rates of engagement (percent response to text messages) in relation to demographic factors, and we explored the effect of engagement in relation to adherence and glycemic control. Adolescent engagement was good (mean response rate of 76%) over the 8-week intervention. Engagement was related to adolescents' gender, race, baseline glycemic control, and blood glucose monitoring, but not to treatment type (pump vs. injection), diabetes duration, age, or household income. There was a significant effect of level of engagement on better caregiver-reported adherence, but adolescents' engagement was not related to self-reported adherence or glycemic control. These results indicate feasibility and initial efficacy of using automated text-messaging to deliver an intervention aimed at promoting adherence in adolescents with T1D.
Background: Teens with type 1 diabetes (T1D) experience increased sleep disturbances, which have been linked to problems with adherence and glycemic control. As such, sleep represents a novel target to improve outcomes in teens.Objective: To evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a sleep-promoting intervention in teens with T1D. Research Design and Methods: Teens aged 13 to 17 with T1D (n = 39) completed measures of sleep quality and diabetes management and wore actigraphs to obtain an objective measure of sleep. Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) was collected from medical records. Teens were randomized to Usual Care (n = 19) or the Sleep Coach intervention (n = 20). Teens in the Sleep Coach group received educational materials on healthy sleep habits and completed three individual telephone sessions. Follow-up data were collected at 3 months, including exit interviews with teens and parents.Results: Feasibility of the study was excellent; 80% of teens in the Sleep Coach group completed all three sessions, and retention was high (90%). Based on actigraphy data, a significant improvement in sleep efficiency and sleep duration was observed (48-minute increase) among teens randomized to the Sleep Coach intervention, and teens in the control group were 7.5 times more likely to report poor sleep quality after 3 months than intervention participants. No change in HbA1c was observed.
Conclusions:The Sleep Coach intervention for teens with T1D is a feasible and acceptable program that increased sleep duration and improved sleep quality for this high-risk population.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.