sleep

Study: Later Sleep/Wake Time Linked to Depression in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Whether an individual with type 2 diabetes is a morning or night person could be associated with depression risk, regardless of age, sex, or geographical location, according to the results of a new study.

Chronotype—an individual’s circadian preference—has been shown to be related to depressive symptoms in the general population. However, little is known about the effects of chronotype on the risk of depression in patients with diabetes.
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For their research, the authors conducted 2 cross sectional studies: 1 in Chicago and 1 in Thailand. Overall, this included 194 participants from Chicago between 45.3 and 71.3 years of age and 282 participants from Thailand between 44.1 and 67.3 years of age.

Depression symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D), and demographics, diabetes history and complications, and HbA1c values were obtained. To determine chronotype, participants in Chicago completed the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) and participants in Thailand completed the Composite Score of Morningness (CSM). In addition, sleep quality was assessed with the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI).

Higher CES-D scores were associated with later chronotype for both Chicago and Thailand cohorts (lower MEQ score, r= -0.242, p=0.001 and lower CSM score, r= -0.227, p<0.001, respectively).

In the Chicago cohort, higher CES-D scores were also associated with younger age, female sex, non-whites, insulin use, higher HbA1c levels, and poorer sleep quality. Later chronotype was significantly associated with higher CES-D scores after adjustments for age, sex, ethnicity, HbA1c, insulin use and PSQI scores.

In the Thailand cohort, higher CES-D scores were also associated with younger age, female sex, and poorer sleep quality sex. Later chronotype was significantly associated with higher CES-D scores after adjustments for age, sex, and PSQI score.

“[This] data support an association between circadian regulation and psychological functioning in individuals with [type 2 diabetes],” the researchers concluded. “Intervention studies targeting circadian timing should be explored to determine whether altering circadian functioning may improve depressive symptoms in [type 2 diabetes].”

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Saetung S, Hood MM, Nimitphong H, et al. Later chronotype is associated with greater depressive symptoms in type 2 diabetes patients: a study in two different ethnic cohorts. Presented at: Endocrine Society’s 99th Annual Meeting; April 1-4, 2017; Orlando, Fl. https://plan.core-apps.com/tristar_endo17/abstract/9f6300891abea35983bbd25dffe50c8f.