Sleep Disruption Can Worsen Diabetic Retinopathy Outcomes

Poor quality of sleep is associated with vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy, according to research published in Ophthalmology and Therapy. Comanagement of sleep disruption may assist patients ward off progression to vision loss, according to the study.

Researchers conducted a matched case-control study to explore the relationship between sleep quality and the likelihood of developing vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy between May and September of 2022. 

The study included 126 patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes (mean age, 52±11.00 years) and 63 duration-matched participants placed into a control group (mean age, 58±12.5 years) who underwent a complete ocular examination at a single retina clinic. The researchers classified patients with confirmed vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy as cases and matched them with control study participants. All participants underwent rating of sleep quality assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index assessment tool. 

The mean fasting blood sugar level was 152.20±44 in the case group and 148±47.40 in the control group. Most other baseline characteristics were also well balanced between the groups.

The researchers found that overall poor sleep quality was more frequent among patients in the case group compared with those of the control group (71.90% vs 28.10%; P <.00). 

Using multivariate analysis, they demonstrated that poor sleep quality alone predicted the chance of developing vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy in the diabetic cohort (adjusted odds ratio, 8.48; 95% confidence interval, 2.42–29.67).

“Ophthalmologists and eye care professionals may wish to consider therapy of both sleep disruption and vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy in a clinical setup,” stated the researchers.

Limitations of the study included the inability to infer causality, use of fasting blood sugar level instead of hemoglobin A1C to estimate glycemic state, and potential misclassification errors in the sleep measurements.

This article originally appeared on Ophthalmology Advisor